


You Have to Believe We Are Magic

by astudyinfic



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hexworld, Cut & Run but magic, Familiar!Ty, M/M, Witch!Zane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:55:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 34,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24291670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: After losing his wife and familiar, Becky, Zane wants nothing more to do with magic.After losing the only job he was ever good at, Ty wants to feel useful once more.When their paths cross, they discover there is still some magic left in both their worlds.
Relationships: Becky Garrett/Zane Garrett (past), Zane Garrett/Ty Grady
Comments: 144
Kudos: 89





	1. Zane

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how many people have read the Hexworld books by Jordan Hawk. If you haven't, you totally should. 
> 
> So, quick Hexworld primer, a witch has the potential to do magic but needs a bonded familiar in order to access it. Familiars are pure magic in both their human and animal form but they can't use it themselves. Any witch-familiar pair can bond, but there is always one out there who the familiar will recognize as their magic's perfect match. They can work the strongest spells together. They just need to find each other.
> 
> Also, rating may change. Haven't decided if there will be smut or not.

Zane stared down into his drink, wondering how many more he would need before he forgot the significance of the day. All around him was the usual chatter of this particular bar, one tucked away in the dirtiest, most forgotten about part of New York. A far cry from where he'd grown up in the lap of luxury. A fistfight broke out in the corner and Zane didn't even look up. This was normal for him now. None of this phased him at all. 

If his family could see him now...

With high witch potential, his mother had great plans for him, plans Zane failed to live up to. As the firstborn Garrett and one with his potential, his mother had his life mapped out for him from the moment he took his first breath. But to her dismay, he wasn't interested in politics or any of the more lucrative magical careers. Until he had a familiar, it was all moot anyway. Witch potential meant nothing without the magic to power it.

As a child, he dreamed of meeting the perfect familiar, the one who he was meant to be with. It was a fairy tale that all children grew up hearing, meeting their familiar who declare them their magic's perfect fit and Zane was as enamored with the idea as any child. But as he grew older, the chance of that happening faded, and Zane settled for a familiar who was good enough. Becky was beautiful and kind and fiercely intelligent. She had dreams and goals and the family background to stand up to Beverly's scrutiny. And most important of all, at least to Zane, she desperately wanted out of Texas. Maybe on the Gulf coast it would have been okay, but there in Austin, there was no place for her to go. Was a dolphin without an ocean even a dolphin at all?

After marrying, they moved to Miami, where Zane found a modest career as an artist and sold the hexes he drew to make money and Becky could go in the ocean whenever she wanted. They were happy, for the most part. The house they had was small, barely bigger than the bedroom he had back at the ranch, but neither of them needed the big house or the social currency. They were happy and that mattered more than anything else. 

Sometimes Zane wondered what he could do with the magic if he found his true familiar, but he loved Becky. They married and had a wonderful life together, one Zane thought they would share until they were old and grey. Then one day, Becky got caught in the crossfire of a drug deal gone wrong. They'd known Miami was dangerous but they lived in a safe area and Zane never considered that something like that could happen to them. 

But it did and in an instant, all the magic left Zane's life. Without Becky, he had nothing. 

He turned to alcohol, then drugs. He lived off his family's money and did nothing useful whatsoever with his life. When there were too many memories still getting through the clouded haze of his mind, Zane moved to New York. He'd never been there so Becky's ghost couldn't haunt him there. Or so he told himself. But his mind kept telling him all the things she would have loved about the city he now called home and he had to drink even more just to get his brain to stop, if only for a little while.

Realizing the direction his thoughts had turned, Zane shook his head, as if that would be enough to end the maudlin mood that had haunted him for the better part of five years. "Another!" he signaled to the barkeeper who nodded and poured him another glass. Maybe this one would make him forget that five years ago that day, his life came to an end. Though, in his experience, even on good days, there was never enough to make him forget. No matter how drunk he was, no matter how he tried to dim the pain, Becky was always there.

Becky's face was the last thing he saw before he passed out every night; first, the smiling one he remembered from dates and quiet moments. The way she looked at their wedding, held on a boat, surrounded by the water she loved so much. That smiling face would fade to the last time he saw her, identifying her at the morgue when they called him in after the shooting. Her hair coated in blood, her eyes closed, the one small blessing in what was the worst day of his life. If he'd had to look into her normally warm and expressive eyes and seen no sign of the life he loved so much, Zane didn't know if he would have been able to survive. 

He wasn't entirely sure he had survived. 

In his absolute darkest moments, Zane wondered if he would have survived her death if she had been HIS familiar, the one destined for him. He wondered if he had held out for the familiar he was truly meant to be with, maybe Becky could have married someone who would have protected her better than Zane did. Because he failed her. For all the magic they created between them, it wasn't enough. Because Zane wasn't enough. 

No matter how much Zane loved her, Becky wasn't the familiar fate had set aside for him. He knew that person was out there somewhere, hopefully in Texas or Miami or on the other side of the planet. Zane hoped they would never, ever meet. He couldn't handle another familiar. Losing Becky was enough for him. He couldn't stand to lose someone else, couldn't stand to know that he had failed someone else. 

He wasn't good enough to save the woman he loved, so Zane vowed to never love again, to never use magic again. The world could do without him. He couldn't do without her.


	2. Ty

Ty was curled up outside in the yard of the Metropolitan Witch Police, catching some of the late summer sun before fall brought the chill and made him have to nap inside, with all the other familiars and the noise and the smell and the chaos. As a cougar, most of the smaller familiars stayed out of his way but some of the braver ones thought it was funny to annoy him and watch him snap.

Ty had moved into the barracks at the MWP not long after retiring from the Marines. A cougar was an asset to almost any mission and he'd been involved in many classified actions overseas. But then his unit was forcibly retired and Ty had to figure out what to do with his civilian life. Unbonded familiars faced a lot of struggles in society. Not many people wanted to hire a familiar, particularly ones considered dangerous. There was still a lot of discrimination out there towards familiars, with the common belief being that they would give up their career the moment they found their witch and it was just such a hassle to keep hiring new ones. 

The more docile familiars were often forced into bonds they didn't want either by physical force or by economic needs. Meanwhile, the familiars considered dangerous (such as bears, wolves, _cougars_ ) were corralled by the police and locked up in menageries to keep the public safe. Never mind that familiars were far more likely to be injured in an altercation than the general public who feared them.

Not that anyone was going to get the jump on Ty. 

As a man, he was a formidable fighter, with the extensive military training that left him ready to take on anything the police force might throw at him. As a cougar, he could smell the fear he inspired in other people and reveled in it. Fear made them keep their distance. When people kept their distance, no one got hurt. 

Most of all, Ty.

He'd been lucky being born into the family he was. Most of his family were familiars though Ty was the only one who was actually classified as dangerous. His parents were a bonded pair with his mother being the witch and his father the familiar. Mara Grady used her magic to keep her house in order and her family safe. She never had any interest in the high profile careers powerful witches could hold. She was happy with their farmhouse in West Virginia, her husband, and her sons. 

Earl Grady was a hunting dog, like his father before him, one built for running in the mountains of West Virginia, one strong enough to take on the biggest predators that lived in the Appalachians. Ty's brother, Deuce, was a raven, dark as the night and smarter than all of them put together. Deuce loved to fly high above the mountains or the city streets of his new home, Philadelphia.

Mara and Earl had enough strength, experience, and compassion between them when their firstborn turned out to be a wild cat, they knew exactly what to do. They never treated Ty as something to be feared or coddled with kid gloves. They treated him the same as they did with Deuce after his brother came along and Ty knew how blessed he was. Some of the familiars in the barracks had no shortage of horror stories from their families. Ty often brought some of them home to Bluefield on the holidays, if they could get out of work. He hated knowing the people he cared about were hurting when there was something he could do about it.

"Grady!" a voice cut through the sleepy haze he'd managed to attain. He blinked his eyes lazily but didn't lift his head, just stared at his boss, and waited for him to get to the point so he could go back to sleep. "Get your ass in gear. I need you."

Unbonded familiars didn't get a lot of work at the MWP. Without a witch, they were mostly just used for their skills as animals. 

So, for Ty, that meant standing around and looking intimidating. They didn't allow him to hunt, much to his dismay. McCoy wouldn't be yelling at him like that if this was just another bodyguard job, so Ty already knew he wasn't going to say no. Unless it was paperwork. 

He'd find someone down in Hexes to do that for him.

He shifted quickly, rolling his neck as he stood back up onto two legs. The nap hadn't been enough but it would have to do for now. "What can I do for you Mac? Need some muscle on a case?" It was what Ty was most often called in to do. Shift, stand behind the investigating team and keep everyone else at a distance while they did their work.

Boring work, particularly for a familiar who hated to stand still and wanted to be doing something.

Dan McCoy shook his head. His familiar sat on his shoulder and Ty did his best not to shudder. Ty Grady - cougar, Marine, and all-around badass - was terrified of that damn chipmunk. "Not exactly. A disturbance at a bar, a witch and familiar pair tormenting another man, threatening him. Regular police don't want to step in because...well, you know." Interdepartmental politics were strong among the police departments. The regular police wouldn't touch anything even remotely to do with magic, so if something went wrong, they could blame it on the MWP's supposed incompetence.

"Because they need everyone to think that they're the best force when really they sit on their asses all day drinking coffee?" 

"Yes, that," McCoy chuckled. "Anyway, typical police work. Interview the witnesses, take statements, figure out what led up to the incident. Perrimore and Alston already have the suspects in custody. The victim...? Well, you'll need to work your magic on this one." Ty was well known for putting jumpy witnesses, victims, and criminals at ease. "He's not inclined to cooperate. Declined medical treatment. Only threat of charging him with hindering an investigation kept him in there. You should probably hurry before he decides to make a break for it."

Ty rolled his eyes but was already heading for the offices to grab his jacket. Great, some drunk who got himself beat up and now doesn't want to admit what he did. That sounded like a horrible way to spend a sunny afternoon. But the MWP paid his wages and gave him a place to live. He had to earn his keep somehow. 

So he headed out into the city, hoping to get this over with in time to still get a quick cat nap in before the sun went down. 

Let it never be said that Ty Grady didn't have his priorities worked out. 


	3. Zane

Zane stared at the men in charge, an angry glare that came from deep in his soul. He had no interest in helping with their investigation. He didn't even care that there was an investigation. A couple of assholes got drunk and decided to pick on someone drunker than them. Hardly his fault they chose him. And if they had an issue with the fact that he'd knocked them both on their ass before they used a hex on him to keep him pinned to the barstool, well, then they could attempt to press charges. 

Last time Zane checked, it was legal to defend yourself. And illegal to use hexes on people against their will. 

The police had wandered off and he knew without a doubt they were calling in the MWP. Great. He didn't want to deal with holier-than-thou witches and familiars who thought the whole world revolved around them simply because they wore a badge. At one point, Zane might have considered joining their ranks but now he had no interest aside from surviving to another day. 

And even that was negotiable. 

A witch and familiar pair walked in, their shiny badges attached to their belts. A large black man, physically imposing but with a nice smile. Zane figured he was the "good cop". The smaller, smarmy guy was one that Zane thought would excel at "bad cop". He didn't really want to deal with any of them and itched for a drink to get him through this hassle. The bartender had been told to cut him off though. 

As if being sober was going to solve any of his problems. 

"Are you Garrett?" the larger man asked. When he nodded and looked away, uninterested to say the least, the man continued. "I'm Perrimore, this is my partner and familiar Alston. Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

Turning a dark glare on the two, Zane nodded. "I do care, actually. I'm not interested in pressing charges or participating in an investigation or really doing anything that either of you would consider cooperative. So why don't you go back to your offices and leave me the fuck alone." He turned his back on them both, hoping they would take him at his word and just leave. 

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Mr. Garrett. Charges will be filed. We can't very well have people going around attacking others, even if you don't agree. We won't take up much of your time. We just need you to answer a couple of questions and we will be on your way."

"And I need you to go fuck yourselves and let me be on my way right now." He had no interest in helping these smug bastards. Even if they weren't coming off that way right now, Zane had dealt with the MWP enough times at this point to know that sooner or later, they would show their true colors. 

Alston stepped forward, almost into Zane's personal space. "Listen here, asshole. We are trying to keep people safe so you can either answer the questions here or answer them down at the precinct."

Zane turned and pushed himself off the barstool. He was rather proud of himself that he didn't wobble at all when he stood, looking far more sober than he felt. "Am I doing anything against the law?" he asked, voice coming out as a low growl.

"Well, no."

"Then you have no right to arrest me. I trained as a lawyer for a while, I know my rights." Of course, he'd dropped out of law school the moment he and Becky got married but they didn't need to know that. 

Alston curled his lip and growled at him. The familiar of the pair, then. If Zane had to guess, he was probably something like a chihuahua. He smirked at the image in his head and sat back down, facing the bar so as to not look at the agents anymore. 

He knew deep down he probably should press charges but he wasn't in the mood. It was the police's job to get the criminals off the street. If they can't do it without his help, then they weren't very good at their job. Of all days, today was not the one to expect any sort of cooperation out of him. 

The agents stepped away, though they stayed between him and the door. If he had to, Zane thought he could probably knock them down but he didn't know what kind of magic Agent Perrimore had and he didn't want to risk that it was something that could actually hurt him. He'd wait them out. Not like he had anywhere to be or anyone waiting on him. His landlord didn't even know his name, just if he had paid that month's rent or not. 

Anonymous was the way he wanted to live and Zane was doing a damn good job of it. 

Perrimore pulled out a phone and made a call, glancing at Zane as he did. Probably telling them they had an uncooperative witness and finding out what to do. Zane smiled and looked down at the bar. He was enjoying being difficult. Might as well make everyone else as miserable as he felt.

"Last chance, man," the smarmy one called over to him. "You can deal with us or you can deal with someone else."

It didn't honestly matter to Zane who he dealt with. He wasn't going to give them shit. Their investigation was so minor compared to his own problems. He didn't respond, continuing to stare at the bar, wishing he had a drink in his hands. 

"Your loss!" 

Zane rolled his eyes. He didn't have anything left to lose, no matter what they think. 

The two MWP agents stood at the doorway, ignoring him now that he'd made a point of ignoring him. He'd almost forgotten about everything but his need for a drink. "Grady, Mac sent you?" Great, asshole number three was here.

"Yeah, well, they needed someone with charm, since you two couldn't charm your way out of a paper bag." Zane barely restrained himself from turning to look at the new agent who thought he could get information out of him. It was always fun knocking smug bastards down a few pegs. 

He didn't hear the steps behind him, just a voice far closer than he expected. "Are you Garrett?"

Zane turned to look at one of the most handsome men he'd ever seen. Too bad he was the enemy, as far as Zane was concerned. 

The man in question just stared at him, gaping slightly. Zane didn't know what his problem was and he really didn't care. 

"Yeah, I am. And let's make this easy on both of us. I'm not answering any questions. I'm not cooperating. I'm going home. Go fuck yourself."

Zane stood and pushed past him. He was done with these agents. He was done with this day. He was just _done_. 


	4. Ty

He'd heard it enough times to understand what was happening. This was the last thing Ty needed or wanted today. While he'd always held out hope that it would happen to him, this wasn't the way he pictured it and certainly not the type of witch he expected. 

But his damn magic thought it knew better than he did. 

Ty reached the bar quickly, giving Perrimore and Alston grief for not managing to convince the _victim_ to talk to them. That's just embarrassing. The victim didn't have any reason to not talk to them unless they were being dicks to him. Ty rather doubted Fred was - the man was the consummate professional - but Alston never knew when to shut up and could make any bad situation worse by opening his mouth. But even Fred was adamant that this man wouldn't even work with Ty, so of course, Ty had to prove them wrong. 

But the moment the man turned around and Ty met his eyes, something inside Ty slotted into place and he knew, without a doubt, that the man in front of him was his witch. For a brief moment, Ty allowed himself to feel elated at the prospect. The man was handsome, fit, and while he was drunk at the moment, that didn't mean anything. Ty and the rest of the team went out drinking often whenever they were together. 

_Then_ the man opened his mouth and Ty wanted to punch him in his perfect teeth. "Let's make this easy on both of us. I'm not answering any questions. I'm not cooperating. I'm going home. Go fuck yourself."

Who the fuck did this guy think he was? Ty didn't know and he didn't care. Witch or not, no one talked to Ty Grady like that. 

The guy tried to push past Ty but he was having none of that. His hand darted out to grab the man's upper arm. "Listen up, asshole. I will arrest you and drag your drunken ass down to the precinct and leave you there for a week if you don't knock it the fuck off. You can help or you can sit in jail. And trust me, while the rest of the MWP has been upgraded over the years, we still have the same cells we did a hundred years ago, so if you'd like to see the sun again sometime this month, you'll answer the damn questions. Got it, Hoss?"

"And what the fuck would you be charging me with?" The growl would have been impressive coming from a familiar. It was downright amusing coming from a drunk witch.

"Inhibiting a police investigation," Ty answered immediately, smiling brightly at the irate man. "Your testimony could prove vital to the case, therefore, you don't really have a choice whether or not to cooperate. The only question is if we are going to do this the easy way or the hard way. And while I would thoroughly enjoy the hard way, I can't imagine you would feel the same." 

His witch - Garrett, he remembered distantly - deflated in front of him and sat down with a heavy sigh on the barstool behind him. "Fine. Can we just get this over with so I can get back to my life?"

Thankful to finally have some sign of cooperation, Ty nodded and sat down next to him. "I'm going to assume you would feel better doing this here rather than down at the station."

Garrett nodded. "Ask your damn questions."

"State your full name."

"Zane Garrett." Zane. Unusual name that, but it suited him. Besides, Ty wasn't really in any position to comment about the strangeness of another person's name. 

"Are you from New York?"

"Not originally but I live here now." He didn't elaborate but Ty got the feeling there was a story there. He wondered where the man was from, thought he detected a slight accent though it was so faint Ty might have been imagining it. 

"Do you know the men who attacked you tonight?"

"No." Ty blinked, waiting for any sort of explanation but none came. Zane continued to stare down at the bar and Ty could barely detect any change in him. But he could detect something. The man was lying. His heart rate picked up and there was the scent of fear that was there and gone again in the blink of an eye. Zane knew why he was attacked and he wasn't going to say anything. 

What if these people came back again? What if they went after someone else? What the fuck was wrong with this man that he could just sit there and let it happen? How could a man like that be his witch?

He didn't say anything, though, just asked his next question. "Do you know why they attacked you?"

"No." Another lie. Something more was going on with Zane Garrett and Ty knew he needed to get to the bottom of it. 

"How can I get in touch with you if I have further questions?"

"You don't. Ask what you need to now and leave me alone."

Ty laughed, "Sorry, Zippy, but that isn't how this works. Give me an answer or I'll keep you someplace I can find you again."

The man turned to glare at him once more and Ty offered him a bright smile, mostly to cover the way his heartbeat a double-time in his chest. How could this man be his witch, his magic's perfect match? It seemed so unfair. Particularly after... Ty took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and focus on the job. Maybe he could get out of town for a while. A trip to Bluefield and a run in the mountains would go a long way to clearing his head. 

Zane didn't seem to notice Ty's distraction as he muttered an address that Ty was quick to write down. "Now, was that so difficult?"

"Do you have to try to be this big of an asshole or does it just come naturally to you?"

Ty laughed, glad to know he was getting under Zane's skin. Good. The easier it would be to keep him at a distance that way. "This is all-natural, baby. It was a pleasure talking to you and we will be in touch soon, I am sure."

He stepped away as the man stood, ready to storm out of the place and probably go find somewhere else to drink himself into oblivion. As Zane put some space in between them, something cracked outside and the mirror on the other side of the bar shattered. Ty pulled his weapon, pointing it out at the street even as he put himself between Zane and the window. 

Zane looked stunned, simply staring at the shattered mirror in disbelief. 

"In case you didn't notice, Hoss, that would have gone through your head if you hadn't stood up." Zane didn't say anything though Ty suspected he wasn't as used to being shot at as Ty was. "Which means, I think this is more than just a bar fight and I think you had better come with me."

He was only slightly surprised when Zane agreed, nodding readily but saying nothing. Maybe the man had some sense after all. Not a lot, but maybe enough to keep himself from getting killed. 

Ty had already lost one witch. He wasn't going to lose another. No matter how big of an asshole he was.


	5. Zane

The bullet came close enough that Zane heard it flash by. Another inch or two to the side and he wouldn't be here right now. For all his bluster about not caring if he lived or died, when faced with actual death, he realized that this wasn't the way he wanted it to happen. 

The abrasive agent was talking and Zane only heard part of what he said, his mind doing the calculations of just how close he came to death. "...more than just a bar fight and I think you had better come with me." He just mindlessly nodded, knowing that right now, the asshole who'd been annoying him only moments ago was his only chance for survival. Until he could deal with the situation himself.

Because they said they were going to find him, and it appeared that they had. If Agent Grady and MWP could keep him safe until Zane could disappear again, he would take all the help he could get. 

"Come on. Let's get you out of here before they take another shot. The way the agent carried himself had changed completely in the last few seconds. He went from sarcastic and easy-going to tense and professional. He carried himself like a soldier and Zane wondered if he served before signing up with the witch police. Zane had been so determined to ignore the man, he didn't even know if he was a witch or a familiar. Probably a witch because he'd never heard of them sending an unbonded familiars out on a case. Not that he'd paid all that much attention to them at all.

He followed Grady out, hands in tight fists at his side as if he would simply punch any threat that came at him, even if it would do no good in a gunfight. Grady had his gun out and the agents from earlier were scurrying around, trying to figure out who was shooting and from where. Ty didn't stop to help, though, simply ushered Zane into a waiting car and peeled out without another word to the people from his department. 

Once they'd put some distance between the bar and themselves, Ty turned to look at him briefly. "Now, explain. Who is trying to kill you?"

Zane shrugged and stared out the window. "I don't know for sure but the hex the pair used on me earlier, I've only ever seen it one other place. Miami. I left some burnt bridges down there. I think maybe my past has caught up with me."

He could see Ty raise a brow out of the corner of his eye and tried not to think about it too much. After losing Becky, Zane tried to find the people responsible for her death. He infiltrated as best he could, sold himself as a witch looking for a familiar. It was easy enough to blend into that underworld. He had the right coloring and spoke Spanish like a native. They trusted him as easily as the cartel trusted anyone. And Zane was good at it. If he wanted, he could have lost himself in that world of drugs and drink and sex and never had to worry about a thing again. 

But Becky wouldn't have wanted that. So he left for New York and hoped he could do something that would make her proud. Instead, he continued to drink and was laden with the guilt of her death and the guilt that he couldn't move on like she would have wanted. 

Zane Garrett could do nothing right, and now he was going to die because of it. 

"Doesn't exactly answer my question." The agent hit the lights on his car to allow them to go faster then they could as a civilian vehicle. "I love the flashy blue lights," Grady quipped with a grin.

He'd placed his life in the hands of this man? Zane was absolutely fucked. "My guess would be one of the Miami cartels. They killed my wife and familiar so I killed some of them. Then came here. And I'm assuming they found me."

The look Ty gave him was somewhere between sympathy and understanding, which was better than he got from most people when he mentioned Becky. "I lost my witch a few years back, so I understand. They say it gets easier but..." Ty shrugged and Zane wondered what had happened to his witch. And why the MWP was sending an unbonded familiar to talk to him. He was probably something they found comforting like a golden retriever or rabbit or something.

Zane just nodded and didn't say anything else while Ty fell into deep thought, speeding their way through the crowded Manhattan streets. "We need a place to lie low while I contact my boss and fill him in. They'll expect you at the precinct or your house or whatever other bars you frequent." How Ty seemed to understand that this wasn't a one-time thing for Zane, he didn't want to know. There was no way he was that easy to read. Probably a lucky guess.

While he ruminated on that, Ty clearly came to a decision because he flipped the car around in a U-turn and headed for the Brooklyn Bridge, turning the flashy lights off as he did. "You will be on your best behavior or I will shoot you in the leg and give you no choice but to stay put. Do you understand me?"

Having no doubt that Ty would do just that, he nodded, though he started to figure out how he could get away from this temperamental agent and get out of town. That was what was going to keep him safe. Not some cranky familiar with a power trip and a gun.

Ty pulled up to a hotel and Zane was unceremoniously dragged inside. Ty requested one room under the name Sam Hill. Raising a brow, Zane stared at him but said nothing. He'd play along until he had a better option. 

In the elevator up to the room, the tension could have been cut by a knife. Zane didn't understand what Ty was upset about. _He_ was the one getting shot at. Ty could leave him and let him deal with it on his own if he really wanted to. 

He thought about that all the way to the room until Ty grabbed him by the arm and shoved him in. It closed with a heavy thud behind them and Ty stood there, eyes blazing now that they were alone and somewhere relatively safe. "So, a cartel wants to kill you, you know that, and when someone shows up who can actually help, you tell them to go fuck themselves? I can't decide if you have a death wish or are that big of a dumb ass. Explain everything to me. Start at the beginning. If I think you are lying to me in the slightest, you can go deal with those bastards on your own. Got it?"

Zane saw red. How dare that man talk to him like this. He had no idea what Zane had gone through and clearly didn't care. "Oh fuck off. I was doing just fine without you."

"I have some bullet holes in a bar that says otherwise."

Unfortunately, there was nothing Zane could say to that. At least, not something that wouldn’t get him shot.


	6. Ty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _A note regarding the current state of the world:_
> 
> _When I started this fic, the world seemed a very different place. I know now that I was just naive but the events of the past ten days or so have shown me just how much I need to learn about the world around me and all the ways I can work to make it better. I am hesitant to keep posting a fic about police considering the world as we speak but have decided to go ahead and do it for a few reasons._
> 
> _1) This is a work of fiction and one set in a magical world at that. Fiction allows us to see the world for how it is but also for how the world COULD be. It is with that hope that I am posting it, that someday we can have cops like Ty who truly care about everyone around them regardless of the color of their skin.  
>  2) I think we all need some love in our lives right now and while Ty and Zane are still being complete morons, we all know where this is going and I hope that is enough to lighten hearts just a little.  
> 3) I love writing and I love the people who read what I write and I feel like I would be letting you all down. _
> 
> _Let there be no mistake, the world needs to change. This world isn't safe for anyone who isn't a straight white male and as we're seeing in the protests, even that isn't enough to save you from the horrors of police brutality. It needs to end and it needs to end now._
> 
> _#BlackLivesMatter now and always._
> 
> _Love, Jena_

Taking the man to the precinct was out of the question, as was taking him home. If someone wanted to kill Zane Garrett, those were the two most likely places to find him, considering whoever took the shot was close enough to know the MWP were there. Ty sure as hell wasn't taking Garrett to his own house, so hotel it was. They could lay low, he could contact McCoy and they could see where to go from there. 

Ty couldn't get a read on Garrett. Every time he thought he had the man figured out, he would shift and act completely different. First, he was argumentative and dismissive. He didn't care about anything involving the investigation and wanted nothing to do with Ty or any of the other agents. Ty didn't understand Zane's attitude but he respected the man's right to be a fucking dumb ass. But then the shots were fired and Ty had a small amount of hope that Zane had been scared into cooperating. 

That lasted for all of twenty minutes. 

By the time they reached the hotel, he watched Zane fighting the urge to cut and run. And Ty knew that he would go after him. That he would risk his life for this moron who thought he could take on a cartel single-handedly while drunk and miserable.

Because the man was Ty's witch, whether he ever told him or not. And because it was the right thing to do. 

"Can you save us both the headache and not run the moment I turn my back?" Ty asked, going to stretch out on the bed that occupied most of the room. He probably should have considered asking for two beds when they checked in but he doubted they would be there for more than a few hours so it wasn't a big deal. Garrett could sit in the chair and be miserable for all Ty cared. 

Garrett blinked at him, surprise coloring his dark eyes for a moment before he slipped back into his surly persona. "Why should I? No one was shooting at me until after you arrived."

" _That_ is the distinction? Not that you pissed off some of the deadliest people on the planet who now have it out for you? Do you have a death wish or are you just a fucking moron?"

Zane stood and glared at him. Ty didn't like the feeling of the man looming over him so he climbed off the bed to stare him down. The witch might have a few inches on him but Ty could take him if need be. "You don't know the first thing about my life. You don't know what I have been through. So pardon me if I don't want to take criticism from some pampered MWP familiar who has never known true hardship in his life."

Ty didn't even try to stop the growl that started deep in his chest, more animal than human. Zane stepped back, eyes wide finally realizing that Ty wasn't someone to be toyed with. "You know nothing about me or my struggles, Hoss, so save the holier than thou bullshit for the therapist you obviously need." Of all the fucking assholes in the world, Ty ended up with *this* one being his magic's perfect match. The universe was clearly having a laugh at his expense. 

"What kind of familiar are you?" Zane asked, seemingly against his will. Ty hated that question because it usually was followed by judgments about where he should be kept due to his nature. 

He shrugged off the question, deeming it not something Zane needed to know. He'd save the asshole's life and then go back to living at the MWP and helping out where he could. It wasn't perfect but it was certainly better than being tethered to a man like Zane Garrett. 

"I thought you might have been a dog of some kind, or a rabbit. Something cute and friendly. Now I think it's something like a chameleon or a snake. Those would fit."

Ty snorted. "My best friend's the snake, not me. You aren't even close and I wouldn't tell you if you were. Drop it so we can go back to trying to save your life."

For once, Garrett didn't try to argue, simply huffed and went to the window to look out over the city. "What part of 'people are shooting at you' do you not understand? Get away from the window." The witch would be dead by sunset at this rate. At least that would solve one of Ty's problems but no, he had to keep the fucker alive. "I'm going to call my boss. You are going to sit here and be quiet until I have some answers and a plan as to what to do with you next."

He dialed the number immediately and glared at Zane once more before heading for the bathroom for some modicum of privacy. If the man decided to run, that was on him. Or so Ty told himself.

"McCoy," the chief answered, gruff as always. "Tell me you aren't dead in a ditch someplace. I'll owe ten bucks to the people over at NYPD." 

Ty laughed at that, knowing fully the impression he'd made on the local police. They didn't think highly of his attitude and the feeling was mutual. "No, your money is safe, Mac. I want to know if Perrimore and Alston have checked in yet and what the hell we're doing with Garrett." He glanced over his shoulder but with the bathroom door closed, he couldn't see the man. 

His boss sighed on the other end. "Yes, they checked in. We don't know much more than we did when we sent you out there an hour ago. The two who attacked him aren't talking but they seem to have connections to a cartel in Miami of all things. We aren't sure what that means just yet."

"It means that Garrett here stuck his nose somewhere he shouldn't have and now has a target on his head. He upset the cartel and came to New York to hide. They've clearly found him. I have him in a secure location right now but I'd like to know what you want me to do with him. I can't be stuck with him much longer or I will kill him myself." The man grated on his every nerve and Ty hated him for it. He also grudgingly understood why his magic had chosen this man as his witch. But just because he understood it didn't mean he had to like it.

The silence dragged on far longer than Ty liked and he was about to growl at McCoy when the other man finally spoke. "Keep him where you are. Don't tell me anything about your location and turn off this phone." Which meant McCoy thought someone might be listening which was _not_ what Ty wanted to hear. "I'll be in touch."

He hung up without another word and Ty stared at himself in the mirror, clearly the only person who had any sense here. McCoy wanted him just to keep Garrett here. Without something to knock him out or tie him down? The man had been listening to that chipmunk for far too long.

With a heavy sigh, he stepped out of the room, ready to tell Garrett the bad news. But instead, the room was empty, the door still open without any concern for the fact that Ty had been left behind without warning. 

"Son of a BITCH," he snarled and ran for the door. The man was just a witch. He couldn't have gotten far. Pausing just long enough to hang his badge around his neck, Ty shifted and took off after him, ignoring the terrified screams of the hotel guests who never expected to see a cougar with a police badge tearing through the halls. 


	7. Zane

Zane couldn't believe it when the agent went into the bathroom to make his call. Zane knew the call was about him, so why couldn't he listen? He wasn't going to complain, however. It gave him the perfect opportunity to get away from the smug asshole who was currently holding him captive. Within a few hours, Zane could be on his way somewhere else. Chicago, maybe? Or New Orleans? Somewhere that wasn't New York. That was what mattered. 

The moment Grady closed the door, Zane was up, listening in for a moment to make sure the man was actually on the phone and then made his break. They were on the third floor, which made the escape a little longer than he would have liked but eventually Zane was out on the street and Ty was none the wiser. He didn't recognize the area but he hadn't explored New York much either, so that didn't surprise him. All he needed was the subway station and he could be on his way. 

Keeping his jacket pulled tight to try and disguise himself as best as he could, Zane moved his way through the crowd, slow and deliberate. The last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself and be found by either the cartel or the MWP. Neither one were people Zane wanted anything to do with. The sooner he was done with all of them, the better. 

A small voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like the agent he was leaving behind told him that the MWP could protect him from the cartel, but he ignored it. No one escaped the cartel if they wanted someone dead. His best chance was to keep moving and never look back.

When the subway entrance finally came into view, Zane hustled across the street to get there before the traffic started to move again. He heard a bit of a commotion behind him but considering it was New York City, there was rarely a time without a commotion, so he ignored it. Just yards from the station, Zane knew he'd made it and he would be on his way to a new city by the end of the day. 

Or so he thought until something large and strong barreled into him and knocked him into the alley just to his right. He hit the ground hard, hand stinging as it found broken glass on the wet pavement. His pants were soaked and he was about to give the person who hit him a piece of his mind, only to see it was no person at all. 

The cougar growled long and low, a sound that hit something primal deep in Zane and he wanted to run. He fought against the urge for all of a few seconds before he gave up and turned to tear through the alley, hoping to outrun the animal. Every instinct in him told him this was foolish but he couldn't get his legs to obey. The cougar pounced him without ever having to take a step, leaping across the quickly expanding distance between them. Zane grunted as he landed face-first on the pavement, chin hitting the cement hard enough for him to see stars. 

The pressure on his back disappeared and he looked over his shoulder to see the cougar sitting there, staring at him. The golden eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the alley and Zane knew the animal was toying with him. It could have killed him several times over already. It was having...fun. 

He scrambled to his feet, grabbing a beer bottle as he did as if that would help against an animal that size. It could probably eat the bottle and his hand along with it.

It took an embarrassingly long amount of time for him to notice the MWP badge hanging around the cougar's neck. He looked back at the eyes and saw something familiar. With a curse, he threw the bottle at Ty, who dodged it easily and growled once more. "Can't you take a hint? I don't want your help!" He wanted to go and probably could have gotten away if Ty hadn't stopped him. He was wet, bleeding, dirty, and not drunk enough to deal with this anymore.

Ty shifted and stood, an imposing man who became an even more imposing animal. Zane cursed the fact that his body took that moment to realize just how attractive Ty was and he shuffled around a little so the agent wouldn't see the bulge in his pants. The last thing he needed was for Grady to deck him for getting a hard-on after getting beaten up in an alley. Though, it was hardly a fair fight. 

"I don't see how you have much of a choice there, Garrett. You pissed off the wrong people and I'm the only one who is going to stick his neck out to try and save yours. So stop with this whole badass loner attitude you've got going and accept that you need help."

"How the hell do they allow you on the streets?" Zane blurted out, realizing that it was in his best interest to stop talking but finding himself unable to stop. "A familiar like you is supposed to be locked up, particularly one who is unbonded. They shouldn't let you out of the Menagerie, let alone out of the MWP building."

Stalking forward, Ty got into Zane's face, forcing the bigger man to back up until he hit the wall. His fingers clawed at the brick as if he could somehow find a way out of this situation that didn't end in bloodshed. His blood. There's no way he could even make a dent in Grady. The man had to be made of metal. 

_Tytanium_ , his hysterical brain offered unhelpfully. 

"You know nothing about me or my background. You can accept the help I am offering you or I will call the cartel myself and watch with glee as they take care of you. I don't care if you are...” Zane watched him shake his head and start over, wondering what the other man was going to say there. “I don't care who you are. No one gets to threaten me with the Menagerie and live. So I'll ask you one last time, do you want my help or shall I brush up on my Spanish for the phone call?"

"Why would you want to help me? You hate me."

Ty nodded instantly. "Yeah, I do. But I also love my job and believe in what I do. Just because you have no morals, no guiding compass, nothing in your life to drive you other than the thought of your next drink, it doesn't mean that everyone is like that. So suck it up, accept the help, or I walk."

Zane didn't understand why he was giving him so many chances. He could have left him after Zane ran from the hotel and let the cartel take care of everything. But he didn't. Ty was still here and was still offering to help him, though Zane suspected there was more to the help than Ty was letting on. He didn't understand the familiar's angle just yet, but he would. 

"Fine. I won't run again. That doesn't mean that I like you or that I like anything about this. I would have been fine on my own."

Scoffing, Ty backed up and smoothed down the leather jacket he wore. "Sure you would have. If the bartender hadn't called the cops when you were hexed to the bar stool, you'd be dead already. Hard to keep your head about you when you're constantly drowning it in beer."

"Tequila." Not important but Zane could be pedantic when he was nervous. Or scared. Or turned on. And he was currently all three. 

"Because that’s so much better, Papi. Now come on. Let's get somewhere a little less conspicuous. I guess the hotel is out since I'm sure I made quite the scene running through the lobby." Ty sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Fine, my place. Touch anything, get drunk, or piss off the cat, and I will make that call, got it?"

Zane nodded and took a chance to push himself off the wall. When he caught up to Ty's words, he paused and asked, "You have a cat?"

"Yep, and if you think I'm scary, wait until you see her. Now come on. We need to get off the street."

This time, Zane decided not to argue. He'd agreed to cooperate so he planned to do just that. 

Despite how much he hated the man next to him. Even if he did have a grudging respect for him now.


	8. Ty

He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the run through the city. Despite being an MWP agent, Ty rarely got to run the way he liked in the city. Too many people panicked when they saw a cougar running through the streets of New York. This time they could complain all they like, he was working a case and they could bring it up with McCoy. Mac might be stubborn and difficult to work with but he wouldn't let anything happen to one of his agents. Ty respected him, even if he never told the man that. 

The moment he tackled Zane, he enjoyed the fear he smelled on the man. He'd been an ass who thought far too highly of himself and Ty enjoyed being the one to knock him down a few notches. Zane tried to fight back, for the briefest of moments but not many people could stand their ground against a mountain lion. Zane was no exception. He ran, as everyone did eventually when instinct took over, and Ty got to chase him which was the most fun he'd had all day.

Ty loved it when a person figured it out it was him. Particularly, people like Garrett who clearly thought he was something cute and sweet and easy to handle. Ty loved being underestimated. The moment Zane figured out it was him, Ty would have laughed if he'd been in his human form. It would serve that asshole right to be a little afraid of him now. 

But Zane agreed to be under his protection, which was more than Ty had expected. He took that for what it was, the first sense of survival instinct he'd seen out of the man he was supposed to bind his magic to. Not that he would. He had yet to see a sign that told him Zane Garrett was anything but an alcoholic and a flight risk with a death wish. Not the type of witch a man like Ty wanted to be associated with. 

So why did he find the man so attractive?

He wrote it off as his magic being difficult and wanting to make him suffer. Clearly that was the only explanation because Zane was proud with no right to be, stubborn even though it could kill him, and irresponsible with no respect for the danger he brought down on those around him. Ty didn't want to risk his life with this man just because his magic said he should.

He had to lay down some rules though, particularly if he did what he was planning and invited Zane to come to stay at his house. It was already well protected and Ty knew it better than anywhere else. It would make it simpler to keep him safe. "You can accept the help I am offering you or I will call the cartel myself and watch with glee as they take care of you. I don't care if you are..." Ty paused in horror as he realized that he almost blurted out the truth about their relationship. Or what could be their relationship. A working one, only, of course. He thought he covered well, not wanting Zane to ever know the truth. Ty didn't trust Zane and he wasn't willing to risk his heart and his magic. 

Zane followed him to a cab and Ty gave them the address. In no time at all, they were speeding along to an old Brownstone in a quieter neighborhood, not the type of place one would expect to see an unbonded familiar. He didn't come there much, preferring the camaraderie of the barracks at the MWP but it was nice to know there was a place he could get away from the chaos of the station when he needed a break. Of the people he worked with, only McCoy knew where he lived and that was only so he would have someone who could find him if everything went wrong. Ty hoped it never came to that but with Zane staying there, this was a possible circumstance where it would become necessary. 

He opened the door, holding it open for Zane before following him inside. He hadn't seen anyone tailing them but you could never be too careful. He locked the doors and set his security system, a hex that alerted him to anyone outside. If anyone tried to get in (or out), he would know about it instantly and Mac would be notified as well.

It helped to have powerful friends who were good with hexes.

Zane looked out of place in Ty's immaculate home. Everything was in order, perfectly set up the way he liked it. And here was this big man, who was rumpled, dirty, and out of sorts - partly due to the events of the day and partly due to the fact that he hadn't been taking care of himself for days if not months or years prior to this. He didn't fit in and it was just another reminder that Ty’s magic had no idea what it was doing. 

"I thought you had a cat," Zane mumbled, looking distinctly uncomfortable. 

Ty chuckled. "Yeah, I lied." He would like to have one but most animals saw him as a threat. That was okay in most circumstances but Ty loved cats (not only because he was one) and would have liked to have had one around the house. Cougars weren't pack animals but Ty could see the appeal. "I just wanted you to be careful in my house. I don't normally bring suspects or witnesses here so pardon me if I felt like I need to be extra careful, particularly with a flight risk who might try to fight back." Ty rarely met someone bigger than himself. He had training on his side but Zane looked like he could put up a fight. Ty had just finished restoring the banister up the stairs. He didn't feel like having to do it again. 

Gesturing towards the living room, Ty sighed. "Go sit down. I'll get us something to drink." To his amazement, Zane did just that and the tension in Ty's shoulders loosened just a little.

He followed a few minutes later with two Dr. Peppers, handing one to Zane. "I thought when you said drink..." the bigger man grumbled, looking at the soda like he'd never seen such a thing before. 

"Yeah, you've had enough of those for the day. I need your wits about you so drink the damn Dr. Pepper." Zane glared at him which gave Ty no small amount of pleasure. Pissing this guy off was going to be the highlight of this case. "So, want to tell me why you have a massive chip on your shoulder?"

Whether Zane just wanted to talk or whether he felt he owed an explanation to Ty or something completely different, Ty didn't know, but Zane told him a long story about losing his wife and familiar and trying to get revenge for her but ending up only with alcoholism and a target on his head. Ty felt for him, a little. But Zane spoke as if he was the only person to ever lose someone they loved and that it explained all of the problems he had now. 

So he couldn't help but exclaim, "You realize that's bullshit, right?" the moment Zane was done with his pity party.

"Excuse me?" Ty couldn't believe that Zane was expecting sympathy from him because he sure as hell wasn't getting it.

"I lost my witch about the same time you lost your familiar. I didn't go off the deep end and piss off a cartel and become a bum in a city that I didn't know. You mourn, you grieve, you move on." If the rest of his Recon team could see him now, giving this lecture to someone else the way they once gave it to him... "She wouldn't want you wasting your life and she wouldn't want you risking your life, would she?"

Zane shook his head, looking away from Ty and he knew he'd won that round. "I'm going to go get your room ready," Ty said, pushing himself up. He figured Zane needed a few minutes after that and he was happy to give them to him. "Be here when I get back." Shifting back and forth too many times in one day made him tired and cranky and he really didn't feel like chasing Garrett down. Again.

"I will." Zane met his eyes, and Ty's heart stuttered in his chest. In the sincerity, Ty could see the man Zane had the possibility of becoming. He could see a witch he would be proud to call his own. 

He shook his head and moved towards the stairs. Even considering such a thing was dangerous. He didn't need a witch and Zane would be gone the moment he was safe. Better to keep his distance. If he told himself that enough, he might start to believe it.


	9. Zane

When Grady went upstairs, Zane continued to stare at the empty space where he'd just been. Zane had never met anyone quite like Ty Grady. Ty actually told him to stop complaining about his dead wife, which raised Zane's hackles until Ty explained that he'd lost his witch around the same time. Zane wanted to ask questions but Ty closed off and Zane figured the questions wouldn't be well received. Maybe he'd loved his witch as much as Zane loved Becky. Maybe he did understand Zane's pain, at least a little. 

He couldn't remember the last time anyone called him out as often as Ty did and they'd only known each other for a couple of hours. It was refreshing, even if it was annoying. Even when he was with Becky, she just let him do what he was going to do and never called him out when he was being an asshole. Ty might actually believe Zane's name _was_ Asshole.

Despite what felt like a terrible attitude towards Zane, he actually did trust that Ty wanted to keep him safe. Zane brought this mess on entirely himself - a fact that he knew Ty would keep throwing in his face until this was all over - and yet Ty still wanted to help him. Ty even invited him to stay at his home which was far more than Zane expected anyone else on the MWP would do. 

He should probably apologize for being so rude. If nothing else, the Menagerie comment was out of line. Yes, he believed the dangerous familiars should be locked up but it didn't look like Ty was one of those. He had control over his animal in a way that most familiars like him did not. In fact, Zane was impressed with how well Ty handled himself when chasing him down. Not many large cats could have run through the streets of New York and not been tempted to attack an innocent bystander. 

The MWP's insurance premiums must be astronomical.

He paced around, waiting for Ty to return. Many pictures hung on the wall and Zane was drawn to them. Most featured a younger Ty and a Hispanic man about his own age. They were dressed in military fatigues and smiling brightly as though they hadn't a care in the world. Some of the pictures featured four other men and Zane assumed they were a team of some sort. Ty had probably been military at one point. It fit with the minuscule amount Zane knew about the man.

Other pictures featured Ty with people who had to be his family. They looked too similar to not be related. Most had four or five smiling faces but a couple only had one woman standing in the center with two big dogs, a cougar, and a raven all around her. "Interesting," Zane mumbled to himself. Ty's mother was a witch and the rest of the family were familiars. He wouldn't have expected that.

"That's my recon team," Ty said, startling Zane who hadn't heard him come down the stairs, let alone realize he was right behind him. "And that' s my family. Brother is the raven, dad and grandpa are the dogs. Being a familiar runs down his side of the family." Zane nodded, trying to get his racing heart under control. Letting a cougar sneak up on you, even if he is in a human form, was a surefire way to get killed and Zane had no intention of getting mauled to death by some jumped up adrenaline junkie Marine with a cat fetish. 

Ty smirked at him as he sat on the couch and Zane knew he could hear his racing heart. "I didn't realize the Marines let familiars be Force Recon," Zane said, trying to make conversation so Ty wouldn't focus on Zane's fear. His brother in law had been in the Marines and had nothing good to say about Recon. Certainly, Mark would have made some comment if they allowed magic users into that group.

"There are two branches. One is the norms who do the typical Marine stuff. Then there was our branch. We were three witch-familiar pairs and did whatever the others couldn't."

That had to be a terrifying group of people; that much power, both magical and physical. Not a group Zane ever wanted to come up against. "So, I thought they didn't allow..." he waved his hands around for lack of the right words. He didn't want to assume anything or accuse Ty of anything. Now that he was determined to survive, it wouldn't be prudent to piss off the familiar who was going to keep him alive.

Ty frowned, clearly not understanding what Zane was trying to say. “You know... You and the witch and...”

"Oh, are you talking about the bonds? ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ was still firmly in place while we were serving but none of our relationships were like that. Well, we think one of them might be but they're both in denial or something. Eli was my best friend, the one who understood me better than anyone else and the one who was the first to stand up for me when someone had a problem with dangerous familiars." 

Ty's eyes grew wistful and he stared off into space, not saying anything for the longest time. He'd mentioned he lost his witch a few years ago. Maybe that was why he wasn't still in the service. Was a familiar without a witch any good to the Marines, or anyone? The MWP seemed to think so but Zane wasn't sure. Though, now that he placed his life in Ty's hands, he had to hope the man knew what he was doing. 

"Eli died on our last mission. Our team had to carry us both out because I couldn't bring myself to do it. I would have stayed there and died with him. So I understand your grief. But I don't understand why five years later you are still waiting to die. Would she have wanted that for you? If I tried to do what you were doing, Eli's ghost would have come back and haunted my ass for the rest of my days. Do you know how unfun it is to wake up to banda at three in the morning?" 

Huffing out a laugh, Zane surprised himself. He didn't know the last time he'd actually laughed and not just forced himself to look like something was amusing. Ty had a disarming personality, one Zane had never encountered before. He could see why this guy was sent to interview victims. He was kind and funny, entertaining and understanding. Until you found out he could kill you, you would think he was a puppy dog. 

"Why are you telling me this?" Zane had to ask. Because these weren't things that people would normally tell someone they just met.

With a shrug, Ty looked completely at ease with the personal information he had shared. "One, I want you to know I've been there, even if I managed to pull myself out eventually. Two, I'm tired of you looking down your nose at me because I'm _just_ a familiar. Don't even try to deny it. And three, I want you to know that I can kill you where you stand without ever needing to shift, so keep that in mind." 

Zane didn't respond. Ty had already told him about point number one, though now Zane had more context. He couldn't argue point two. Familiars were weaker, easily led astray. They were there to fuel spells, nothing more. At least, that was what he was always taught. He loved Becky and never thought of her that way but he did tend to think of other familiars in terms of their usefulness, Ty included. And with point three, Zane would admit it was a deterrent to him acting up. He had no doubt about Ty's words. 

Crossing a Force Recon Marine was always a terrible idea. One that could turn into a cougar? That was a death wish.

He nodded and gave Ty an uncomfortable smile. "Consider me warned. So, what do we do now?”

Ty grinned broadly at Zane had the impression that he was going to hate whatever Ty was about to say, while Ty would love every minute. But that seemed to be par for the course with Ty, and he sighed and only hoped whatever it was wouldn’t be _too_ painfully uncomfortable. 

“You’re going to help me investigate.”


	10. Ty

“You’re going to help me investigate.”

The look on Zane's face was nothing short of hilarious. The fact that it didn't even occur to the man that he might be able to do something to save his own life would have been funny if it wasn't horribly sad. Ty couldn't imagine living your life just waiting to die. What a horrible life that must be.

Zane's mouth moved but no sound came out. Whether he knew that he was doing it or if he just couldn't find the right words, Ty didn't know, but he decided to save the man some pain and fill him in on what he was thinking. 

"Listen, we both know that I am not going to be called in to investigate this case. Without a bond, the MWP considers me a liability." He spit the words, angry at the way familiars were treated but he knew that was a fight that would need to be fought by someone with more resources than him. Ty could do the job and he could do it better than most of the others on staff but because prejudices ran deep, he was good for comfort or intimidation. "We both have a vested interest in getting you through this in one piece. You don't want to die and I don't want to have to clean blood out of my carpet."

He sent a wink Zane's direction, hoping the man would understand that he was joking. Ty didn't know if Zane understood the concept of humor but if they were going to be spending much time together, Zane would need to get used to it. 

Waiting patiently while Zane thought it over, Ty assumed he would dismiss the idea out of hand. Zane made it clear he wasn't interested in helping. But Ty truly thought they would be able to solve this if Zane pulled his head out of his ass for a few minutes.

"So you need me to be there for what? Moral support? You don't strike me as the type of person who would let what you are supposed to do get in the way of doing what you think is right." Ty blinked, surprised at the succinct and apt description of him. Maybe Garrett had a brain in his head after all.

With a nod, Ty settled back into the seat. "Partly. But you said you infiltrated the cartel, right? You have to have learned things while you were there, how it works, connections, things like that. Between your knowledge and my skill, I think we can take them down."

Zane smirked, almost a real smile as far as Ty could tell. He wondered what Zane might look like if he smiled properly, how it would transform his features. He would be gorgeous which only made Ty sad. If only his witch had a better personality, they could have really been something special. But Zane Garrett was Zane Garrett and it would never work. 

"You think the two of us can do something fully trained and bonded detective pairs couldn't? On our own without resources or magic? Either you have an overly optimistic view of your skills or you are just naive."

He refrained from pointing out that they could have magic because Zane didn't need to know that. Being his witch was a privilege and one that Ty would never grant to a man like Garrett. He had big shoes to fill and there was no way he would ever compare, even if their magic was compatible. 

"I am that good. But I also think you are better than you give yourself credit for. Even in the last few hours, I've seen glimpses of a quick mind that shone through your drunken haze. If you let yourself, I think you could really be something."

"I was something once and what did that get me? A broken heart, a late wife, and witch potential I can never use again. I have no reason to think anything would be better if I tried again." Ty managed to keep his face impassive, but only barely. He couldn't believe how much it hurt to hear Zane say that. The man would rather give up than risk being hurt again. Ty probably could have guessed he felt that way but it didn't make it any easier to hear.

Ty could feel sorry for him but most of Zane's problems he brought on himself. Scoffing, Ty rolled his eyes. "Bullshit. You're just scared and trying to cover it with what you think is bravado but it is really just stupidity. Now, pull yourself together, Garrett. Someone is trying to kill you and it's our job to get to them first."

It was funny watching Zane war with himself but Ty wished he could just do something without thinking about it forever beforehand. 'So, you just want me to tell you what I know about the cartel? I'm sure the MWP has all the same information I do."

"Maybe so," Ty said with a shrug, "but I already told you they aren't going to let me investigate so they won't give me any of the information. Besides, I think you're wrong and you know far more than any law enforcement." Ty thought Zane was wrong about oh-so-many things but this wasn't the time or the place. And he'd basically been telling him then since they first met. Was it only a few hours ago? It felt like years at this point, and not in a good way.

With a huff, Zane glared at him. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"What name did you go by in the cartel? There's no way it was Zane Garrett. You would have been pegged as an infiltrator almost immediately."

Zane mumbled an answer and while Ty's ears were better than most, he wasn't sure what he'd said. "What was that?"

"Xander."

"Xander?" There was no way Ty heard that right. When Zane squared his shoulders and stared at him, Ty couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. "Xander? A creative thinker you are not, huh? Let me guess... Garrett. Garrett. Garcia?" A light blush colored Zane's cheeks and it only made Ty laugh more. "Oh my god, really? I was joking!" It wasn't a terrible choice if Ty was really pressed, but it was too funny that Zane Garrett decided to go by Xander Garcia.

"Oh fuck off."

"Whatever you say, Xander." It took far too long to get himself back under control but Ty blamed Zane for that. If he wasn't so unintentionally hilarious, none of this would have happened. 

Zane stomped over to the window, staring out at the quiet street. Ty liked this part of New York. Close enough to everything that he still got the full experience of the city, but quiet enough that he could come here and relax when necessary. It wasn't West Virginia but it was about as close as he was going to get in the concrete jungle of New York City. "Maybe standing in front of a window when there is a sniper trying to kill you isn't a good idea," he offered. While none of his instincts or hexes were telling him that he was in danger, Ty figured you couldn't be too careful in this situation. He would not let Zane's cavalier attitude get them both killed.

He got a glare for his efforts but Zane huffed and sat back down. Zane looked back to the window and just as Ty started to wonder if he was going to need to handcuff the man to that chair, Zane began to talk.


	11. Zane

He couldn't have heard that right. Of all the people in the world, why would Ty want _him_ to help with the investigation? Sure, he understood Ty's reasoning but that didn't mean it made sense. There had to be someone Ty could work with who would help him, someone who he didn't hate and try to maul in a back alley of Brooklyn. 

"You have to be kidding me." Because this was a joke. Grady was playing an elaborate prank on him. It was the only explanation that made any sense. 

"Do I look like I'm kidding? Listen, clearly you don't like me and the feeling is mutual. But we both win in this situation. You get to survive and not look over your shoulder for the rest of your life. I get to feel like I'm useful again. Because, believe it or not, playing emotional support cougar wasn't really high on my list of jobs I wanted when I was young." Zane could see that. A man like Ty needed to be doing things. Even now, sitting here in his own living room, his knee bounced constantly and he looked like he was about to jump up at any minute. He was made for action, not quiet.

It would be nice not to have to worry about the cartel anymore. Likely they wouldn't be able to bring the whole thing down but if he could get rid of the people that were after him, it would be a good start. Nothing was going to bring Becky back, no matter how much he wanted it. Zane needed to learn to accept that. 

Frowning at that thought, Zane realized he never answered Ty. "I just don't think I'm going to be as useful as you think I am. I don't know the first thing about police work and as you said, I'm a drunk who has not-staying-alive tendencies. I'll just bring you down."

"Oh cut the crap. If I wanted to deal with self-pity, I'd call my brother and make him psychoanalyze me. If I say you would be useful, then I really do believe you would be useful. One thing to know about me, Garrett. Once I make up my mind, I almost never change it. So even if this is a terrible idea, I still think we go with it and see what happens. The worst-case scenario? Cartel kills us, which they want to do anyway so we can investigate and possibly die or not investigate and possibly die. Might as well try to bring them down with us."

"You're an aggressive little shit, aren't you?" Zane thought he might mean it as a compliment but honestly wasn't sure anymore. Ty Grady was nothing like he expected while being everything he expected at the same time. Zane couldn't get a read on him and that was frustrating. "Your brother is a psychologist? He could make a fortune off of you." 

Ty laughed, thankfully, as Zane wasn't ready to have his throat ripped out by a cougar. "Yeah, between the two of us, he could probably retire by forty. Doesn't change anything though. So, are you going to help me or are you going to sit here and wait for death?"

Zane had to consider it. Ty was probably right. He was a dead man either way. If he could take some of them down with him, that would be great. If he could take down enough of them that they could survive, even better. "Fine, I'm in. What do you want me to do?"

Standing with the fluid grace of a large predator, Ty walked past Zane, ruffling his hair as he did. Zane growled under his breath, not liking random people touching him. Grady in particular was irking him, though he had no idea why. He certainly didn't want Ty to touch him _more._ That would be foolish.

Returning a moment later, Ty dropped a file in Zane's lap. "I had a friend bring this by while I was busy chasing you down. It should have everything we know about the cartel. Anything you could fill in would really help." 

"Don't you want to read it?" Zane asked. "You are the agent here. I'm just your..." Prisoner? Detainee? Witness? At this point, Zane didn't know what Ty was considering him but whatever it was, he didn't have any right to be looking through this file. "Besides, isn't this confidential?"

With a casual shrug, Ty replied, "I've read through it a few times. You aren't the only one the cartel has targeted in New York. You are the first one to survive however, which makes you extremely lucky. I've been following this case for a while, and this is my chance to actually work on it. Any knowledge you have is probably far more complete than anything you will see in there, so I'm not worried about confidentiality. And, at least for now, you are my partner, so get to work. I'm a fieldwork kind of guy, so you're on paperwork duty."

Zane tried to ignore the twinge in his heart at the idea of a partner. _For work,_ he told himself, though he wouldn't mind a more personal version as well. At least for a night. Ty would be a fun lay, he figured, even if he ended up scratching Zane to ribbons. That way he would go out having sex instead of in a hail of bullets while drinking himself silly. But no, Ty wasn't interested and neither was Zane, not really. This man was keeping him alive, nothing more. They'd go their separate ways and Zane could go back to trying to drown his memories of his late wife. 

That was the way it was supposed to be. That was the way that was safe.

He didn't say anything, just started flipping through the file. Ty was right, there was nothing in there that he didn't already know. They knew the family in charge and most of their lines of distribution. That was a good start and, at first, Zane didn't see anything he could add. 

"That," he said, spotting something out of place. "That isn't correct." The file said that Miami was one of their distribution centers but that wasn't right. Not anymore. "Six years ago, they moved the entire operation to Miami from South America. Everyone who is important in the cartel is there. It's probably one of the reasons why they want me dead so badly. I've seen their faces. I could identify them. I notice you don't have any pictures here."

Ty shook his head. "No, from what I can tell, they've never managed to get a good photo of any of the people in charge. That would definitely explain why they want you dead. Not sure what good that can do us, though. It's unlikely they are here in the city and there is no way I get authorization to go to Miami to take out the cartel down there.' Ty said it like it would be easy. Maybe for a Recon Marine, it would be.

"No, but it might be useful eventually." Zane thought he could draw the faces if he was really pressed. But he didn't want to let Ty know that just yet. He'd probably make fun of him for what was mostly a useless hobby. "You also don't have an address for their safe house here in New York."

Ty's head shot up, and he met Zane's eyes with wide ones of his own. "You know where they are? Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"Because going towards the people who are trying to kill you seems like a terrible idea."

"Yeah, it does." The words sounded like an agreement but there was a look of unholy glee on Ty's face that made him think Ty believed the exact opposite.

He sighed, covering his face with his hand. "Fucking Marines."

"Hoorah, baby!"

Zane resigned himself to the fact that he was going to die. There was no way he survived going _to_ the cartel with nothing but his wits and an adrenaline junkie Marine cougar. "Fine, let's get this over with. I didn't want to live to see my fortieth birthday anyway."

"That's the spirit! Which borough?"

"Staten Island."

"Fuck." Zane felt that same way but he didn't know too many people who actually liked going there. 

But Ty still looked positively giddy and bounced up. "Come on. If we leave now, it will already be dark and we can get to work."

"What does it being dark have anything to do with it?" Zane would prefer to see when death was coming for him. Being shot in the dark really didn't appeal to him. 

Ty's grin was more toothy than it should have been and Zane reminded himself that he was looking at an apex predator. "Because some of us can see in the dark. Now get up before I drag you there myself."


	12. Ty

They were finally about to do something. Ty was finally about to do something. He'd had to sit on the sidelines for so long. Now he was finally able to run a case. And what a case it was. If they could bring down the cartel, maybe McCoy would finally realize that Ty was an asset, even without a witch. 

Zane stood far more slowly than he did, though Ty didn't know if that was because he was sore from the almost-fight in the alley or if he just didn't move very fast. Either way, Ty almost had his coat on before the witch was on his feet. "Also," Zane said as he moved towards the door, "I noticed that the file noted that there are no known witches in the cartel but I didn't see the fact that there are no witches _allowed_ in the cartel. They don't trust magic."

Pausing, Ty turned to look at him in fascination. Never in all his time following the case had Ty heard that and if he hadn't heard that, it meant that no one knew. "They don't trust magic? No hexes, no witches?" No familiars. That would make things easier. A good bloodhound familiar would smell him coming a mile away. A bird could alert their witch before Ty and Zane even arrived. No magic meant that Ty and Zane had the advantage. "You're certain about that?"

"Absolutely. I had to buy a hex that hid my magic when I was trying to infiltrate. I am pretty sure they would have killed me on the spot if they found out." Ty wondered where Zane hid the hex to make sure it wasn't noticeable. Probably somewhere...private. He banished that image as soon as it arrived, not trusting his mind to leave it at that and not fill in with a lot of graphic images. 

They had bad guys to kill. Ty couldn't be distracted by inappropriate erections.

"That will make things easier." In theory, they would have defenses against magic. A lot of the more powerful, anti-magic families had developed defenses over the years to keep them protected from the people they saw as their enemies. Ty had run into those defenses a lot in the service. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle but knowing to expect them beforehand would really make things easier on them all. "Any reason why they are against it? I would think that they would use any tool at the disposal to run their business."

Zane shrugged. "They never explained. I don't know if it was a religious thing or distrust of things they can't control or what. But they were very much against it and if they found anyone with magic near them, they would kill them. No questions asked."

"And you went in there all alone? With no backup? You really did have a death wish, didn't you Garrett?"

As he finished strapping his weapon to his leg and putting the chain his badge around his neck, Ty checked one more to make sure he had everything. He didn't need Zane to answer. The man had shown him exactly how he felt about his own life several times already.

He hailed a cab, figuring it would be less suspicious than a black government vehicle rolling down the streets of Staten Island. 

"When we get there, you need to do exactly as I say. And I need to trust that you will be there for me when I need you to be. No running off, no deciding that you don't want to do this after all. If you are having second thoughts, now is the time to tell me because I'd prefer to make it out of this alive and that is all dependent on you."

The silence dragged on as Zane thought about it and Ty started to shift in his seat, increasingly worried that Zane was leading him to his death. Intentionally or not was the real question and one Ty didn't have an answer to. "I'll do whatever it takes," Zane finally told him. "You'll make it out alive if I have anything to say about it." He didn't say anything about himself but Ty would take care of that. The idiot witch wouldn't be sacrificing himself on Ty's account. 

He slipped his service weapon from the holster and handed it grip-first to Zane. "Do you know how to use one of these?" He watched in amazement as the man checked the weapon for bullets flipped the safety off, back on again, and then spun it around in his hand before laying it on his lap. Ty did his best to ignore the cramping desire in his gut. That was the sexiest thing he'd seen Zane do all day. But again, now was not the time.

Shaking his head to clear it, he ran through his plan in his head before explaining it to Zane. "I'm going to need a quick rundown on what you know about the layout of the safe house. If anything. I still can't believe that you knew there was a cartel house here and you still came to New York. Why not go someplace else? Fargo, maybe? Missoula? Anyone place that isn't likely to have the people who want to kill you?"

"I haven't been to this one, so I won't be much help with interior, but they always have guards at the front and back, and I can tell you that it will be two stories. All the business will be conducted upstairs where it would be harder to spy on them." Zane shifted, hands tightening into fists before relaxing again. "You already know that I wanted them to kill me. I wasn't going to march in there and let them do it but I never expected to leave New York alive. Going to a city without the cartel wouldn't have served that purpose."

Ty glared at him, at the utterly ridiculous reasoning of the man who was supposedly his witch. "Swear to me you aren't going to go back to that."

"I won't. If someone is counting on me, I won't do anything that I know would result in them getting hurt." 

He believed Zane. Ty saw nothing that said Zane was someone who would let a person get hurt just to serve their own interests. So most likely, this would be fine. 

It would be fine. It would.

He just needed to keep telling himself that. 

The car dropped them off a few blocks past the address Zane told him. Just as Zane explained, there were two men standing outside the two-story building. To the casual observer, they seemed to just be hanging out, but Ty could see the weapons on both of them, despite how well hidden they were. 

"I'm going to scout the building. You are going to stay here and call MWP if this all goes to hell."

Zane looked furious, though Ty had no idea what he could be mad about. "Fuck that. There’s no way I let you go in there alone."

"Listen, I'm a fucking mountain lion. I'm going to be okay." He was pretty sure.

"No, if I can't watch your six, then I don't think you should go in."

An idea came to Ty. A terrible, horrible idea that would probably end in pain and suffering and was probably the worst idea Ty had ever had. And if anyone asked his Recon team, they'd know he'd had plenty of bad ideas. "Do you trust me?"

"No."

Fair enough. "Can you trust me for tonight? That's all I'm asking. Once this is over we go our separate ways and we never bother the other one again. Deal?"

"I guess. What are you thinking?"

What _was_ he thinking? Ty didn't know if he could go through with this but if he didn't, more people were going to die. And he couldn't have that on his conscious, even if it killed him. "I... I think you know what I'm thinking."

The look in Zane's eyes told him that the witch knew exactly what he was going to suggest. And with no surprise at all, he looked terrified. 

Well, that made two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is my favorite. Hold on, everyone. It's going to be a bumpy ride.


	13. Zane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day?!? I got excited, alright? 
> 
> Don't expect another one until the middle of next week though :)

Ty couldn't possibly be suggesting what Zane thought he was suggesting. It was utter madness, even for the guy who wanted to break into the cartel's safe house. He couldn't go through with this. Wouldn't go through with this. 

But if he didn't, then Ty was going to go in there without anyone by his side. Could Zane live with that, if something happened to him?

"I think I do too but I need to hear you say it."

He watched Ty take a steadying breath and reminded himself that the familiar had lost someone as well. This would be a difficult choice for them both and Ty was offering to do it so that Zane would feel better about this idea. Ty was fully prepared to go in there on his own and would probably do it if Zane turned him down. This was on Zane's head and Zane's head alone, and he knew it.

"I'll let you see through my eyes," Ty said, describing the first part of the bonding ritual. If they only did that, the tentative bond between them would dissolve on its own. And Zane knew they wouldn't complete the bond. That would be madness and there was no way Ty wanted to bond to a loser like Zane anyway. "If something goes wrong, you can call the cavalry in long before you would know it otherwise. We're both unbonded. It would work."

At what cost, though. The only familiar Zane had ever bonded with - had ever wanted to bond with, was Becky. Could he bring himself to do even this temporary bond with someone that wasn't her? Would he be disrespecting her memory or was this just another step in trying to heal? Probably neither. This was a means to an end, nothing more.

He had to be sure, though. "And nothing else? You don't expect anything else from me? We do this and that's the end?"

A flash of emotion shown in Ty's eyes, there and gone before Zane could analyze it. He almost thought it looked like disappointment but what did Ty have to be disappointed about? He probably saw it wrong. 

"Nothing else. For tonight only and then we let it fade." Ty pulled himself up to his full height, almost as tall as Zane himself. Zane wasn't used to that and he rather liked it, though he wouldn't admit it out loud. "Though I don't know what you have to be worried about. I'm the one who can be force bonded, not you."

Like anyone would try that with Ty Grady, Zane thought to himself, then had to admit that he didn't know much about it and maybe Ty was at risk. It couldn't be that big of a problem though. He rarely heard any familiar complain about it. Probably just an urban legend, nothing more. 

This was really the best option they had if Ty really planned to go through with this. So Zane took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. Let's do this."

He'd been through it once before but it was different. It was after their wedding, the two of them standing on the beach alone, the moonlight reflecting off the water. It had been an experience Zane would always remember. A far cry from a dingy alleyway on Staten Island. 

"Get down on your knees." Ty's lips quirked at this and Zane hated him just a little more. His enjoyment irked Zane but he did as he was asked, knowing how this worked. His heart pounded in his chest and he drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, in an attempt to slow his heart rate before Ty noticed something wrong.

Without being asked, Zane closed his eyes and waited, giving Ty a modicum of privacy, knowing this was just as difficult for him. Then, rough hands cupped the sides of his face and a feather-light kiss was pressed to his eyelids. "Let me in, Zane," Ty whispered, his breath ghosting across Zane's skin and making him shiver. Another kiss to his other eyelid.

If lightning had struck Zane right at that moment, it wouldn't have left him feeling any different than he did right then. Electricity buzzed across his skin and a blood-like metallic taste was there and gone in his mouth. 

While he processed a sensation he never expected to feel again, Ty stepped back, out of his space. It left Zane bereft for a moment and he slowly opened his eyes to look at him again. 

"Alright," Ty said, pushing forward, obviously as eager to avoid the awkwardness as Zane, "I'm going to go. Close your eyes and you'll be with me. We can talk like that too, but only in my cougar form." He paused, cocking his head to the side before shrugging. "You probably knew that already."

Zane nodded and tried to speak but found his throat tight. He cleared it and tried again. "I have but it's been a while."

Ty didn't say anything. One minute he stood there, staring at Zane and clearly conflicted about something, and the next, a large cougar stood in front of him. "Be careful, Ty. I'll call them in if there is any trouble."

" _Actual trouble,_ " Ty's voice rumbled in his head. " _Do not call them in unless absolutely necessary. My boss isn't going to be thrilled about this._ " Then he was off and Zane was left standing alone in the alley, wondering what he just did.

He bonded with a familiar that wasn't Becky. It was only temporary and they wouldn't even complete the bond but the guilt was already eating at Zane. What had he done? _I'm sorry,_ he thought to his late wife, hoping Ty couldn't hear that. Hopefully learning to talk to a familiar was like riding a bike and he hadn't actually forgotten. 

If Ty did hear, he made no sign of it, so Zane thought he was safe.

Deciding he wouldn't be any help to Ty standing there where he couldn't see anything, Zane stepped out onto the sidewalk and moved across the street to a place where he could see just fine but wouldn't appear suspicious. His hand rested on the gun in his pocket, ready if it ever became necessary. Once settled, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 

Instead of the darkness he usually saw, he saw the street they'd come down. The details he could pick out were tiny, despite it being far darker than when they arrived. He was running - no, TY was running - towards the building and without slowing down, jumped up to the ledge on the second story. For a moment, Zane's stomach dropped like he was the one flying through the air. And for that brief moment, Zane felt absolute _joy_.

With Becky, he'd been able to see life under the sea. With Ty, he could see life in the dark. Both familiars were opening worlds to him that he would never have experienced on his own. The realization hit him hard and Zane quickly shoved down the emotions it dragged up. He couldn't be having any sort of breakdown while Ty was depending on him. 

Ty shifted back to human and the world behind Zane's eyes went dark for a moment. He opened his eyes, wishing he could see Ty but having to trust he was okay. Waiting a moment, he closed his eyes again and a few seconds later, the world exploded to life again when Ty shifted back to his cougar form, slipping into the now open window. 

Zane sent a prayer to a god he wasn't sure he believed in that Ty would be okay and sent along their newly formed bond, " _Please be careful._ "

" _Now, where's the fun in that?"_ Ty responded and he could feel the familiar's rumbling laughter through the bond as Zane swore at him in several languages. Ty Grady was going to be the death of him, but Zane was starting to think that might be alright.


	14. Ty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be slower in July as it is Camp NaNo so I am only writing on this fic after I finish my word count for the day on that story. I'll do my best to update at least once a week but things will definitely be slow until August.

The moment he shifted, Ty had regrets. He knew this would help but the steady presence of Zane in his head was disconcerting. The only other person he'd ever shared this with was Eli and it felt like they were tarnishing his memory. Add to the matter that this was Ty's witch and Ty's emotions were all over the place. 

_I'm sorry_ , he heard through the tentative bond and since he didn't know why Zane would be apologizing to him, he had to assume it was directed at his late wife and former familiar. At least he wasn't the only person suffering from nostalgia and grief. It would have been so much worse if Zane was excited and enthusiastic about this bond. As it was, Ty tried to put his discomfort aside and focus on the case at hand. He needed to get into the building and his best chance at that would be through one of the upper-level rooms. Why they never think to guard those was beyond him but if he could get in undetected, that would be the best. 

Ty slid soundlessly into the alley beside the building. In this form, he could see just as well in the dark as he could in the light so that wasn't a worry. As long as he stuck to the shadows, no one would see him until he wanted them too. There wasn't much room for a running jump but Ty had powerful enough legs as a cougar that he really didn't need one. At least not to reach the second floor. With a leap, his paws hit the ledge above him and he scrambled to find his footing. 

Soon enough though, he prowled along the edge of the building like a very large alley cat, making his way towards the front and the window he'd seen when they drove by. It looked like his best bet to sneak in. And if the guy's guarding below got in trouble, all the better. Ty wanted to make as much trouble for the cartel as possible. They'd been running amok in his city for too long. 

He smiled to himself when he heard Zane's voice telling him to be careful and he quipped back that he always was. It almost sounded like the witch was worried about him. Not that Ty cared. He'd be done with the man as soon as they finished this case and he could go back to being an unbonded familiar who didn't need a witch in order to be productive. He didn't even need Zane right now if he was being honest. This was for Zane's sake, not his.

Never mind that Zane knew where this place was and had more knowledge about the cartel than everyone in the MWP put together. 

He needed to shift to get the window open, he realized when he made it to the front of the building. The ledge was hardly wide enough for him to do it but it was that or alert the men below, and they would be more than happy to shoot a cougar or a man. Balancing as best as he could, Ty shifted back to his human form and jimmied the window open as quietly as he could. He knew Zane was blind as far as the case was concerned when Ty was in this form so he shifted back as he climbed through the window, to make sure the witch could see what Ty did. 

The inside was tasteful, much to his surprise. Ty expected flashy neon and tacky colors like Miami Vice. His knowledge of Miami was sketchy at best, and that was the image that had come to mind. His enhanced hearing could pick up conversations in several of the rooms and he stepped slowly, careful not to make any noise. The last thing he wanted to do was have to fight his way out. 

Never bring teeth and claws to a gunfight.

In his haste to get here, Ty didn't really think what he needed to do once he was inside. They needed something - some sort of evidence, or anything they could bring back to MWP to bring down the cartel. Or they needed to kill all the people in this building, but even knowing that they would be more than happy to kill him, Ty was reluctant to go that route unless absolutely necessary. 

_"If only Digger and Ozone were here,_ " he thought without considering who was on the other end of the bond. 

He was so used to Eli being in the back of his head that it caught him off guard when a subtle Texan accent came back to him. " _Who or what are Digger and Ozone?_ "

The fur between his shoulder blades stood on end, both at the pain that it wasn't Eli talking to him and the shock of desire that Zane's voice in his mind caused. " _My recon team. Digger excelled at detonations. It would be nice to blow this place to bits and be done with it._ "

Zane's laugh rippled down the bond. " _Don't think I haven't considered it. Would be better to have a professional though. Are they anywhere close?_ "

" _New Orleans and San Diego. Not sure which one at this moment_." For a bonded pair, being apart was possible but wasn't very fun. Digger and Owen decided it was better to just split time between the two places. Owen's girlfriend didn't have any problem with it and Digger was more than happy to work with them when necessary. Nick and Kelly were another story, one involving too much sexual tension and big personalities that were too proud to admit what they felt. Even though Eli was gone, Ty felt confident the two of them would win the betting pool on when Nick and Doc would finally give in and accept what everyone else already knew.

When he didn't receive a reply to that, Ty continued down the hall towards what smelled like a popular place. No one was in there right now but they had been and recently. Ty expected they would be able to find something of importance there. " _Would anyone here have a private office?_ " he asked Zane, already breaking in. 

" _Whoever is in charge here would have one, and then there might be a general office for the cartel business to be conducted out of. Ty, be careful. They don't normally leave the offices unguarded._ "

Ty paused and tested the air again. No sign of anyone inside, no heartbeats, or heat signatures, or scents. He was fine. " _Anyone ever tell you that you worry too much, Garrett?_ " Ty asked with amusement as he stalked inside. He knew Zane could see what he was seeing and had to trust that the witch would tell him if he saw anything he recognized as a trap. 

" _All the damn time. They never really stop_." Ty huffed a laugh, more of a chuff than anything in this form, and moved around the dimly lit room. 

The room didn't have much in it besides a desk and Ty would have a hell of a time getting that open with only claws and teeth. " _Listen, I'm going to shift so I can dig around in their desk for a while. Keep listening and watching there and if something happens, well, go get some help I guess._ " Not much Zane could do from the outside but it made Ty feel better to know he was there. 

He shifted, standing up straight from one breath to the next and rolled his shoulders back, giving his human eyes time to adjust. He could see better in the dark than most humans but not nearly as well as he could in his cougar form. Being human put him at a disadvantage but there were only so many things he could do on four feet. 

Digging through the papers on the desk, Ty became so engrossed in what he was reading that he didn't hear the voices outside until they were right next to the door. He froze, weighing his options. Zane had his gun, so he couldn't shoot his way out. He could shift and fight but one good shot and he was done for. And if what Zane told him about them hating magic was true, they wouldn't think twice about putting him down. For the possible the first time ever, Ty wished he was a house cat who could have accidentally gotten in. There was no chance in hell that a regular cougar would show up on the second floor of a building in New York City. 

Zane was counting on him to keep him alive, which meant Ty couldn't die now. Not that he wanted to, but knowing he had a witch outside who was counting on him brought all of his recon training to the front. He needed to get out, with the papers in his hand, and he needed to get out alive. There was a small window, one his broad shoulders wouldn't fit through. 

But feline shoulders could.

With his mind made up, Ty started to make his way to the window as silently as possible, papers in hand. When the door handle started to turn, he needed to give up on stealth and go for speed. He took a running leap at the window, shifting mid-jump and exploding out into thin air in a burst of glass shards. Several made it through his fur to cut into his skin but the moment his paws hit the ground, he was running for Zane. They need to get out and they needed to get out fast. 

" _RUN!_ " he told Zane, as his own paws propelled him forward.

The papers currently in his mouth were basically a death warrant if the cartel got to them before Ty and Zane could turn them into the authorities. 

And Ty wasn't ready to die tonight. Not without taking a bunch of the bastards down with him.


	15. Zane

They'd been bonded like this for about two hours and Zane already hated that he couldn't see what Ty was doing inside the building when he was in his human form. Anxiety ate at him and he itched for a cigarette, or a drink, or anything to calm his nerves. He needed to know Ty was okay and right now, there was no way for him to even check without disrupting whatever Ty was doing.

His fingers gripped the gun tighter in his pocket and he took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Ty wouldn't do anything stupid. He wouldn't have gone in there if he wasn't absolutely sure he could handle it. As Zane started to repeat that for the seventeenth time since Ty disappeared into the building, a window on the second floor exploded outward, a large shape falling from the window as it did. Ty's panicked voice sounded in his head " _RUN!"_ and Zane realized belatedly that the large shape was Ty. 

Something had gone terribly wrong. He pulled the gun out, ready to use it if necessary and took off running the moment Ty got close to him. " _What did you do?_ " he asked Ty without even realizing it as they ran. 

" _What makes you think I did something?_ "

Zane answered out loud, taking gasping breaths as they sprinted down the streets of Staten Island, Ty slowing his strides to keep up with the all too human Zane. "Because I've known you for less than a day and I get the feeling you bring chaos and destruction wherever you go." Perhaps not on purpose, but he was still a danger magnet. Maybe they had that in common.

They ran and ran, darting down side streets and ducking under long hanging branches as they reached the more residential area. Zane took a sharp right and he heard Ty's paws stutter for a moment before he turned as well. They hid behind a dumpster, not too different from the alley where Ty caught him the first time only earlier that day. So much had changed since then it was hard to believe that had only been this afternoon. 

Sitting in silence for a moment, they waited to hear if anyone followed them. But the silence continued and Zane let out a breath, relieved that they had managed to survive for a few more hours. 

Ty shifted and suddenly he was right behind him, a fact Zane was very, _very_ aware of. The heat coming off the familiar seemed to soak through his clothes and Zane turned to look at him, shocked at how bright Ty's eyes were, even in the dim light of the alley. 

His breath was still coming hard, the run and the excitement having adrenaline running through his veins. Ty swallowed but didn't move away. When his eyes darted to Zane's lips, Zane decided to take a chance. What the hell. They were either going to be dead or they were going to go their separate ways after this so either way, Zane had nothing to lose. 

He kissed Ty, hands grabbing his shirt and dragging him even closer. Ty flailed for a moment before his hands settled on Zane's hips and pressed them together. They were both hard, pressed together and Zane backed them up so he could push Ty against the wall as the kiss deepened. 

Zane tried to turn off his mind, didn't want to think about Becky or the cartel or anything but the feeling of Ty against him. "That's what I thought," Ty whispered, his lips grinning against Zane's. 

And Zane grinned back. For the first time in five years, he actually felt alive. Not scared. Not sad. Not numb. His blood was pumping, his mind was racing and all he could think about was how much he wanted to feel Ty underneath him. It was a dangerous line of thought. People wanted to kill him. _Them_. Ty was a familiar with whom Zane had a partial bond. He didn't want to risk making it permanent, not when they would be going their own ways after this was over. But Ty was willing and able. Zane was willing and able. And there was nothing actually stopping them from doing anything. 

Zane crunched the numbers and made up his mind. "Think that car can come pick us back up. I think we've done enough snooping for tonight, don't you think?" 

Ty nipped at Zane's lips, teeth a little sharper than a normal human and the quick bite had Zane's blood rushing south. He wanted to feel those teeth all over him. He wanted to feel _Ty_ all over him. And if it wasn't for the fact that they were in a dirty back alley in Staten Island hiding from people who wanted to kill him, he would offer right here and now. 

"Come on, Lone Star," Ty drawled, taking Zane's hand and leading him away from the entrance to the alley. Zane trusted he knew where they were going, though Ty had shown no sign that he knew anything about Staten Island before they arrived. "Car should be three blocks this way." Ty pushed aside some garbage, revealing a small hole in the fence. 

Zane looked at him in concern and accusation. "How did you know that was there?" 

"I can see better than you can. Come on." Ty didn't elaborate and Zane didn't know if this was a familiar thing or something else but he knew arguing wasn't going to get him laid. After seeing what Ty could do, Zane was rather looking forward to being mauled by him in the bedroom. Had to be more fun than in an alleyway. Either this one or the one earlier in the day. 

He followed Ty through the fence and out onto a quiet street. Ty held up a hand to stop him and listened closely before nodding and leading them over to a small convenience store. The car from earlier was parked there and Ty held the door open for him. Zane climbed inside, figuring that if Ty wanted to kill him, he would have done it by now. 

Ty gave the driver the address to the brownstone and then didn't give the guy a second look. He turned his attention to Zane and grinned, an expression that gave Zane's heart a jolt. It was the look a predator gives his prey and suddenly Zane felt very much like dinner. 

He supposed, in a way, he was on the menu for this evening if everything went the way he was hoping. 

Ty didn't say anything, just swung a leg over Zane's lap and settled himself there, kissing him before he was even situated. Zane grabbed his hips to hold him in place and kissed with equal enthusiasm. They passed the car ride like that, wrapped up in each other. Normally Zane's mind would be analyzing this situation from every angle, making sure there was no danger to him (or, more specifically, his heart). But something about Ty made him want to trust him. 

They had a connection Zane didn't understand and didn't want to think on too closely. They were a good pair, something terrifying and wrong for a man who had spent the last five years avoiding creating any connection to other people. But Ty made it easy and as Ty slipped his tongue into Zane's mouth, Zane forgot everything but the taste of him. 

All too soon they were stopped in front of the brownstone and Ty was climbing out, offering Zane his hand. "You coming?"

"We will be," Zane muttered, taking Ty's hand and following him out. Sure, this might be a bad idea but when had that ever stopped him before.


	16. Ty

Ty had so many terrible ideas in his life but bringing home the man he had a tentative bond with who was also his witch - not that Zane knew that - was at the top of the list. Having sex with his witch was going to end in heartbreak. Either Zane would find out somehow and freak out or everything would be perfect and Ty would have to live with the knowledge that he only had this one night. Either way, Ty was walking away from this alone. 

Zane didn't want another familiar. Ty didn't want another witch. It was better for everyone if they just kept this as casual as possible. While he’d always been good at casual, Ty had a feeling deep in his chest that this was going to be harder. This was going to hurt.

But for now, he didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to think about anything other than getting Zane naked and under him. He shoved the bigger man towards the stairs and waited until he got the hint. Zane took the steps two at a time and Ty was right on his heels. Ty gave him one more push to the bedroom and then onto the bed. Zane was a big guy. Ty didn't need to be gentle. Zane could take it and if he couldn't, he would tell Ty. 

Ty climbed over Zane, straddling his hips as he bent to meet his lips, a brutal and rough kiss with teeth and tongue. Zane gripped his hips, holding him close and Ty ignored the way his heart cried out for more. They always said that sex with your witch was more intense than anyone else, but Ty thought that only happened after the bond was completed. 

It shouldn't have made any difference for them with only this partial bond in place. 

Maybe it wasn't the bond? Maybe it was Zane.

That wasn't something Ty wanted to analyze very closely. It was far too close to feelings he didn't want. Particularly for a broken-down alcoholic.

If he hadn't fallen for a witch he had a full bond with, he certainly wasn't falling for this one, fate be damned.

Ty banished all thoughts of Eli, though. They had a close and deep friendship but it was never sexual. And Ty didn't want to think about his dead best friend while having sex with another man. Zane's groan underneath him pulled Ty right back to the present. 

When Zane tried to talk, Ty stopped his mouth with a kiss. Whatever the man had to say wasn't important right now. Zane wouldn't let a little thing like a kiss stop him if he truly had an issue. Most likely he just wanted to insult Ty and now was not the time for that. Not when Ty had him pinned to the bed, exactly where he wanted him. 

"Fuck," he whispered with vehemence when the kiss broke so they could both breathe. When was the last time he was this flustered from just a kiss? Perhaps never but that wasn't worth thinking about just now. 

Zane grinned and tugged at Ty's shirt, pulling it up and off him. "That is the general idea." The dark of Zane's eyes glinted with something Ty had never seen before. It was something akin to joy but that couldn't be right as the man clearly had no sense of humor or happiness anywhere in his entire body. 

What he did have, however, was a hardness Ty was anxious to get his hands on. 

He yanked Zane's shirt, off, ignoring the sound of ripping fabric when he pulled too hard and too fast. Zane tried to protest but Ty kissed him again. If they started to talk, he would regret everything about this and Ty didn't want to regret anything. Not just yet. Plenty of time for that later, when Zane was but a memory. 

With some shifting, tugging, and creative cussing, they managed to get their clothes off, and finally, Ty had Zane exactly as he wanted; naked and spread out on his bed. He grinned, looking him over from head to toe. "Not bad, Hoss," he purred, running his hand down Zane's chest and feeling the muscle shift beneath his fingertips.

Using hands, teeth, lips, and body, Ty took Zane apart, enjoying the deep moans of pleasure he drew from the man and when they came together in the most intimate of ways, Ty was struck breathless by the sheer intimacy of the moment. Never before had sex felt like this. Never before had it actually _meant_ something. Now that it did, Ty didn't know how to handle it. 

They kissed and caressed, bodies moving in unison until they both found release, crying one another's names, collapsing onto the mattress beside one another. 

Ty gasped for breath, staring up at the ceiling. His heart raced and not just from the exertion and afterglow. It was more than that. It was his magic finally getting a taste of what it was like to be with _your_ witch and it was sparking under his skin, even if he couldn't do anything with it. The desire to ask Zane to use his magic was nearly overpowering and Ty bit his tongue with his overly sharp teeth to keep the question from spilling out. 

Next to him, Ty listened as Zane began to catch his breath and well. He turned to look at him and was shocked by the spike of emotion it caused. Zane was a good looking man, there was no denying that. And Zane relaxed and flushed and happy was almost more than Ty could bear. 

Zane must have sensed Ty's eyes on him because he turned to look at him as well. They lay there, eyes locked, neither of them saying anything. He watched Zane's mouth move a little. If Zane wanted to say something, Ty would wait until he could get it out. He was purposefully not thinking anything at Zane, knowing that tentative bond was still there. The last thing he needed was an accidental, embarrassing confession.

But it turned out that the confession came from Zane, not Ty. Ty's eyes tracked Zane's tongue as he licked his lips and took a deep breath. "Are you feeling this too?"

Breath catching in his throat, Ty didn't know how to reply. Honesty would be too much, that was certain. So, he lied as blithely as he could. "No."

Watching Zane's lips quirk up in a small smile, Ty knew the other man knew he was lying. "Yeah, me either." After a pause, Zane frowned. "Are you singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic in your head." 

Ty shrugged, clearly caught. "It keeps me from thinking too loudly."

He grinned at Zane's laughter and wrapped an arm around the witch's shoulders as Zane rolled to curl up next to him. His fingers danced up and down Zane's back. "This in no way means I don't still hate you," Ty muttered, letting the warmth of Zane's body pull him closer to sleep. 

Zane chuckled while he yawned, and curled together like that, they both fell asleep.


	17. Zane

Zane didn't sleep. To be correct, he didn't sleep _well_ but to say he didn't sleep was almost as accurate. He used alcohol to get his brain to shut off, to stop the memories from flooding in. He sometimes used pills to keep himself awake, not trusting the dreams that would come if he allowed himself to sleep. Only with the chemical enhancements was he able to get any rest at all. 

Or so he thought.

Waking the next morning, it took Zane a moment to remember where he was. He hadn't exactly been looking at Ty's bedroom when they got there last night and he took the moment to glance around and take it all in. It was neat, organized, like the rest of the house. Zane liked it. Despite how well put together it was, it still felt lived in, like a home. There were small touches of Ty everywhere he looked. His own place was a disgusting walk up littered with empty bottles. He didn't know if he would ever be able to take Ty there. It would be too embarrassing. 

Not that they would be around each other much longer. Whatever Ty took from the cartel last night might be exactly what the MWP, NYPD, FBI, and any other number of letter agencies needed to finally take them down. Then Zane could go back to drowning his sorrows and Ty could go back to doing whatever it was he did for the MWP.

That thought hurt more than Zane expected and he reached up to rub at the center of his chest. 

A hand followed and laced their fingers together. Only then did Zane become aware of the warm, comfortable weight behind him, the arm wrapped around, holding them close. "It's too early. Stop thinking and go back to sleep."

It didn't feel early. It felt like Zane had been sleeping forever. They'd fallen into bed around midnight if Zane was remembering correctly. Glancing at the clock, he saw 8:16 staring back at him. Almost eight hours of sleep? Uninterrupted? That was unheard of. He blinked, realizing that what he felt was _rested_. Not a hundred percent. It would take more than one night's sleep to get him back on track, but he felt like himself, more so than he had in a while. Even with someone else in his head. 

He could hear Ty inside his mind, muttering "Go back to sleep already. I'm _tired_."

"You are not tired. You are a big lazy cat who needs to get up and do something. We have a cartel to bring down, or have you forgotten?" Zane looked forward to finally getting his revenge (and on the right side of the law) but now that he knew he would lose Ty when that happened, he didn't have the urgency he had the night before. 

Rolling over, Zane looked at Ty's face. He was attractive as if made from some of Zane's more secret fantasies. His lips were a temptation Zane couldn't resist - not that he was good at denying himself anything - and he leaned in to kiss the familiar gently, smiling as he felt Ty stir more and shift against him. 

Ty shifted closer, deepening the kiss as Zane wrapped his arm around Ty's waist to hold him close. When the kiss broke, Ty tried to burrow his face between Zane and the pillow, making soft, sleepy noises as he did. He was adorable and sweet like this, a contrast to his acerbic badass personality while working. Zane liked them both equally and that terrified him to no end. How had he become so comfortable with Ty so quickly? Why did the thought of losing him scare Zane shitless? Why was he even considering asking Ty if he would like to complete their bond?

That was the scariest part of all. How much Zane _wanted_ to stay with Ty. Not just as a lover. Not just as a friend. But as his witch and partner for the rest of their lives. They'd known each other for a day and already, Zane's soul was crying out for him. Even with Becky, Zane never had that. 

What the hell was wrong with him?

He smiled, pulling himself from his spiraling thoughts when he once more heard a familiar song in his head. "Really, Ty? I thought you were asleep. How are you thinking too loudly in your sleep?"

"This time it's you, darlin'. Not sure what you are thinking but I'm sure getting a lot of static."

Zane clamped down hard on his thoughts, not wanting them to get through. "Sorry. Not used to sleeping that much." He didn't want to go into why that was, so Zane changed the subject. "So, the Battle Hymn thing? Did you know that you weren't even singing the right words?"

Ty pulled back to grin at him and nodded. "Oh yeah. Much more fun to sing the wrong ones, don't you think?"

Zane wasn't sure he agreed but there was no reason to argue that point right now. "I bet you drove your witch absolutely crazy."

"Yeah, well, Eli gave as good as I did. God, we would drive each other crazy." Anyone could hear the wistfulness in Ty's voice and Zane ached for him. He knew how much it hurt to lose Becky. To lose the one who gave you a purpose? It was awful.

"You sing to him all the time? What did he sing to you?" he asked, trying to push his thoughts away from the more tender emotions.

With a laugh, Ty leaned back in his chair. "He wasn't really one for singing, even in his head. But he would yell at me in German constantly. I probably know ever cuss word in that language better than I know some in English."

"He was German?" Eli didn't strike Zane as a particularly German name but he could be mistaken. 

But Ty shook his head. "Nope, his parents were from Mexico."

Try as he might, Zane was struggling to keep up with this conversation. "So why was he yelling at you in German?"

"Usually because I started it by yelling at him in French." 

None of this made sense. That was the only conclusion Zane could come to because how in the world did one of those things relate to another? Maybe they made sense to Ty's strange sense of logic but Zane prided himself on his analytical thinking and there was only one explanation for all of this. "You're all bat shit insane, aren't you?"

Ty beamed. "Yep," he said, popping the p on the end. He gave Zane a quick kiss and then slipped out of bed before Zane could stop. "Now, get your ass in gear. We need to get down to MWP and tell them what we know. Get the bounty off your head and let you go on with your life." 

Ignoring the pain that thought caused, Zane pulled himself up and started to put on his clothes from the day before. He almost said he'd need to get some new ones from his place if they were going to be out and about, but as this partnership was coming to an end, Zane figured he'd be sleeping in his own bed tonight. Or not sleeping.

"Yeah," he said, though his heart wasn't in it. "Yeah, that would be good."

A strange emotion passed over Ty's face, it almost looked like grief, but it was gone before Zane could analyze it too much. "Yeah," Ty agreed, voice flat.

They finished getting ready in silence and Zane pondered the whole situation. Was it possible that Ty really felt what he felt? That Ty might be open to completing their bond? It was unlikely. Why would Ty want to bind himself to someone like Zane?

But the hope had been kindled deep in Zane's chest and he was still thinking about it as they climbed into Ty's car - a beat-up old Bronco - and headed out for the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No real point to this chapter but it is still one of my favorites. lol


	18. Ty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo.... I sorta forgot this fic existed for a bit. I'm back on it now. Sorry for the delay.

After hailing a cab, they were on their way to MWP to get Zane off the cartel's radar and let him go back to the life he'd been living. 

Not that Ty thought much about that life. Drinking himself into a stupor each night was hardly a good way to live but it wasn't his place to say anything. Zane might be his witch but he certainly wasn't beholden to Ty. They weren't even fully bonded so it didn't matter what Zane did. 

Or it shouldn't matter. Though, Ty was finding that it mattered very, very much.

"So, are you going to go back to Texas after this?" Ty asked, if only for something to fill the awkward silence. "Or Miami?" He didn't know if he hoped Zane would say yes he was leaving or no he wasn't. Knowing Zane was in town but that they weren't seeing each other left Ty feeling hollow but the thought of him leaving and _never_ having a chance to see each other again was almost unthinkable.

Zane blinked, having been lost in thought a moment before. "Um, neither. I'm never going back to Texas, not to live anyway. And I have no interest in Miami. I only went there because of Becky. She was the one who loved it there, not me. I don't know what I'm going to do once this is over. I guess I never thought it would be over. Or at least that I wouldn't live to see the end of it."

Growling under his breath, Ty glared at him. "You really are an idiot, aren't you? I can't imagine Becky would have wanted you to act as you did. And if you have another familiar out there, they wouldn't either. You have something to offer the world, Garrett. But you can't do that if you are drinking yourself into an early grave." Ty snapped his mouth shut as Zane stared at him and turned to look out the window. If he said anymore, he would probably admit things that he didn't want to say out loud. Ever.

The city flew by and it took a moment of being lost in his own mind for Ty to realize this wasn't the normal way to the station. In fact, they were going in the opposite direction, something he should have noticed long before now and would have if Zane wasn’t proving to be the ultimate distraction. 

"Hey, buddy. You're going the wrong direction." If there was any parking anywhere near the station, Ty would have just driven them but he'd never had good luck finding a spot and it was easier just to take a cab. Now he regretted it. Sometimes people got turned around but never this badly. "You need me to tell you how to get there?"

The driver didn't respond, just kept going without any reaction. Ty glanced at Zane who looked as worried as he was. _This isn't good,_ Zane said in Ty's head and Ty had to agree. Something was seriously wrong. 

He tried the door but it didn't budge and watched as Zane did the same thing. Ty reached for his gun, one he rarely had to use but shifting in this situation wasn't going to work. He'd be too big and Zane couldn't get to the wheel fast enough if Ty took out the driver. He planned to shoot the lock on the door and jump out at the next light. Zane's eyes tracked his hand and he quietly unbuckled his seat belt, preparing to jump the moment they got a chance.

"I wouldn't try it." The driver didn't have an accent which surprised Ty. Ty was absolutely convinced the driver would speak with a thick Columbian accent like everyone he'd heard in that house the night prior. Though, the driver wore a hat which kept his hair covered and his face shaded so Ty couldn't tell what he looked like. Did they have such poor luck that on their way to try and bring down the cartel they got kidnapped in a completely separate crime?

The driver sounded young and Ty leaned to the side to try and see him. The man turned his head away. "If you want to live, you'll do what I say and come along quietly. If you want your partner to die, then, by all means, shoot the door of my car and see if you're both fast enough to get out before I shoot him." The man held up a gun and Ty knew with absolute certainty he would use it. Ty had already lost one witch and he sure as hell wasn't going to lose another.

He sat back but kept his hand on his gun. He was pretty sure he could shoot the man if necessary but not while driving. Not if he wanted both Zane and himself to survive. 

_Any ideas on how to get out of this?_ Zane asked him silently and Ty shook his head. He had a few but nothing he was willing to bet Zane’s life on. _Think like an agent. I don’t care what happens to me as long as we don’t get to the cartel. I don’t want to think about what they will do to me if..._ Zane trailed off and Ty silently filled in the blanks.

If they had Zane without the possibility of escape. 

If they found out Zane was a witch. 

If they knew they could use Ty to hurt him? 

Ty wasn’t as sure about the last part but it seemed more and more likely as time went on. Zane might actually kinda, sorta tolerate him. Though, that could all go out the window at any second. Ty didn’t know what Zane really thought about anything.

Both Ty and Zane kept their eyes forward, trying not to give away the fact that they were communicating. It didn’t seem like the driver knew they had the tentative bond and thank god they did. But, if Ty didn’t shift soon and let Zane see through his eyes again, the bond would dissipate and they would be lost.

 _If I shoot him, do you think you can get the door open before he kills us?_ Ty’s desperation was reaching a more fevered pitch and he needed to get them both out of there before something really bad happened to them. Right now, this was only an inconvenience but something about this guy rubbed him the wrong way and Ty knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them both. 

Hell, he _was_ going to kill them both. There was not a doubt in Ty’s mind that was the final plan. 

They needed to get away and/or stop him before it got to that point. 

_Yes. Do it_. In his head, Zane sounded certain but Ty wasn’t sure if this was some of that bravado he’d seen from Zane on occasion. 

Ty shot him a quick look and the slightest nod he felt he could risk. _At the next light. Be ready._

Zane took a long, slow breath and let it out without a sound. The taxi pulled to a stop at a light and Ty cocked his gun as quietly as he could. As they’d been driving, he realized they were almost back to Staten Island. If this man wasn’t with the cartel, Ty would eat his shoe. 

The moment the car came to a stop, he raised his gun but the man in the driver’s seat was faster. “Sorry, gentlemen, but I can’t be having you killing me until I’ve finished my job.” Before either of them could react, a cloth was placed over both their mouths as the driver twisted over the seat and hit them both at the same time. 

With the locked doors and the fact that they were both big men, there wasn’t much room to get away and Ty’s last thought as the chloroform took him was that he was going to kill this guy and he would make it hurt. 

If Zane didn’t get to him first. That would be fine also. As long as he let Ty watch.


	19. Zane

When Zane came too, he wasn't surprised to find they were in a dark room. The man who chloroformed them was clearly a fan of the dramatic if this was his method of kidnapping so the dark room made sense. Hell, Zane was surprised they weren't chained to a chair in some abandoned warehouse. Just to complete the "evil mastermind" aesthetic. 

Ty was still out next to him but he was breathing and when Zane nudged him, he moaned, so he wasn't too worried about him. Most likely Zane's body fought off the chloroform faster. One of the not so many benefits of chemically damaging yourself day after day for years.

While he waited for Ty to wake up, Zane looked around the room. It was dark. Too dark for there to be a window anywhere. Even at night, New York was brighter than this. Though, he realized, they could have been taken out of the city. That was more terrifying. No one would think to look for them outside of the city. 

No one would think to look for him, period. But someone would surely notice that Ty was missing. He doubted they would look far outside the city limits. 

Would they even look for him at all? Ty was going to call in and give a vague update the night before but they'd been distracted and Zane didn't think he had actually done it. There was a good chance at all that no one knew they were in danger. 

Zane's search became more urgent. Surely there had to be a way out of here. No windows that he could find but they'd gotten into the room somehow. Unless the room was built around them while they were unconscious but Zane couldn't let himself think about that. Panic started to claw at his throat every time he considered they were truly stuck and he started to search anew. 

He found the door just as he heard Ty start to move. He could barely make out the man's outline and he sighed in relief to see that he was moving and mostly okay. 

"Ow," Ty moaned plaintively. "Where's the kid so I can kill him?"

"Kid?"

"Driver. Sounded about ten years old. Let me rip him into bits. It will make me feel better."

Zane stifled a laugh, knowing this wasn't the time. Though, he would be quite happy to let Ty take a piece out of the man the moment they were out of here. "We have to get to him first. I found a door but it won't budge."

"Did you try asking it nicely?" Zane raised a brow, knowing Ty couldn't see it. He sounded weird. Drunk.

Oh, that wasn't going to help them at all. "Ty, are you okay?"

"Feel weird. Can't take drugs. Or alcohol. Or anything chemical really." Ty was sitting up now but not trying to go any farther. "Need to clear my head."

How strange that one of them couldn't live without the chemicals and one of them couldn't take them at all. Yet another sign that this wasn't going to work, no matter how much Zane might be beginning to hope otherwise. "Is there anything you can do to make it clear faster? Deep breathing, head between your legs, head between my legs."

He didn't have to be able to see in the dark to know Ty was glaring at him. "Yeah, I can shift. It will help with the dark too. Just close your eyes and you should be able to see better than you can now." Ty didn't give him any other warning and between one second and the next, he went from having a very handsome and deadly man sitting next to him to having a very beautiful and deadly cougar. 

Waiting until Ty rubbed up against him once, Zane reached out and ran his hand over Zane's head. How often do you get a chance to pet a cougar with only a minimal chance that it will bite your hand off? Zane figured he might as well take the opportunity when it presented itself. 

Ty made a chuffing noise and bumped his head against Zane's hand once before making his way towards the door. Zane got the distinct impression Ty was laughing at him but that was okay. He was laughing at himself as well. 

Closing his eyes, Zane couldn't get used to the feeling of seeing through Ty's eyes. It wasn't something he and Becky did very often, mostly because the view under the water, while beautiful, was quite disorienting and Zane hated the sensation. Not that he ever told his wife that.

 _Focus!_ Ty grumbled in his head, stalking around the room. Zane closed his eyes and tried to understand what he was seeing. Ty turned around to look at him and Zane nearly gasped. Seeing himself from Ty's eyes was an experience and he didn't know how to feel about it. He looked terrible. His hopes for some peace and quiet and a few good nights of sleep were slowly going away as more time ticked by in this room. 

As Ty continued to assess for any exit, Zane realized that there was only the one door. Ty realized it too as he sat down with a huff and stared at it. _I don't suppose you have any active hexes on you by some chance?_ He didn't and Zane was kicking himself for not having purchased a few. Not that they knew they were going to be kidnapped but when fighting the cartel, it was always a good idea to be prepared. 

"No, I have some pencils and paper so I could draw them if I had to. I actually was good at that once upon a time." He tried not to think about the pain that memory caused and pushed forward. "But without magic to activate them, they would be useless." Zane could draw lock breaking hexes with his eyes closed. He wouldn't even need a ruler or compass or any of the other tools hexwriters usually needed. His hand was steady and he knew the pattern by rote.

He was still considering it when Ty shifted back, still staring at the door but now standing with hands on his hips. With his eyes more adjusted to the dim light, Zane could see he was lost in thought and wondered what could be making Ty think that hard. "You don't happen to have any on you, do you?" Zane asked, more out of sheer blind optimism than a belief that Ty would actually be caring such a thing.

"Not exactly," Ty muttered. He spun on his heel and stared at Zane. "You said you could draw them? Even without the light? Would they be functional?"

"Not without magic." Surely someone who worked for the Metropolitan Witch Police would know that. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly a bonded witch." The moment the words were out of his mouth, Zane realized what Ty was thinking so hard about. Cold fear rushed through him and he considered for the briefest of moments that may be being placed in the hands of the cartel would be less terrifying than that.

Ty started to speak a few times, opening his mouth and then closing it again, choosing his words carefully. He sighed and shrugged. "It's the only way, Garrett. You need magic. I have magic. We can get out of here. We have a hexbreaker at the station who could break the bond if we survive." The "if they survive" part was looking less and less likely.

Licking his lips if only to buy himself a few more seconds, Zane eventually gave a slow nod. There wasn't any other option as far as he could tell. They had no weapons. They couldn't get out. There was nothing that they could do but sit and wait for the people who held them captive to come back and kill them both. Probably in painful and creative ways that would have them wishing for death long before it happened. 

"Yeah." His voice cracked and Zane cleared his throat. "Yeah, we have to do this."

Ty reached out and took Zane's hand. "Draw the hex, Zane. Then, bond with me? Use my magic and be my witch?"

Zane drew him into a kiss, ignoring the conflicting emotions in his heart. Because while the thought of bonding with someone other than Becky was painful, the thought of bonding with _Ty_ felt very, very right. 

Something to think about when they were safe, not before.


	20. Ty

This was idiocy. It would end in his own heart being broken and Ty left alone yet again. This time it would be by choice, though. Eli didn't want to leave. Zane definitely does. Which made this the stupidest thing Ty had ever done. 

But with no active hexes and no other possible way out of their current predicament, Ty couldn't see another choice. They needed to be able to activate whatever hex Zane drew and to do that, they needed a complete bond. The best Ty could hope for was that Zane wouldn't vanish the second this was over and would let him enjoy the feeling of connection that only a bond between a witch and a familiar could give.

Ty didn't want to think poorly of Zane but the man had made it clear that he didn't want this kind of connection and Ty didn't want to force something on him that was so unwanted. So they would bond, they would get out of here and kill every last one of the fuckers behind their kidnapping, and then Ty would take Zane to the MWP's hexbreaker so they could undo what was forced by fate upon them both. 

Only after Zane had disappeared into the night, never to be heard from again would Ty allow himself to mourn what could have been.

He was only partially surprised when Zane agreed to the bond. The man wanted out of here as much as Ty did and would do whatever it took. "Alright, remember how this works?" Ty asked, trying not to sound patronizing or snide. It was hard to keep the tone out of his voice. It was his default setting when upset or frustrated. 

Or scared.

Not that he would ever admit that last part out loud. 

"Yeah," Zane sighed. "It wasn't all that long ago. I'm not as old as you seem to think."

"I never said anything about your age," Ty snapped back. But if you want to make it about age, I'm happy to do so."

Zane rolled his eyes and pulled a pencil and paper from his pocket. Why the kidnapper didn't bother to take that off him, Ty didn't know but he wasn't going to question the gift right now. Zane quickly drew out what Ty believed was an unlocking hex, his tongue peeking out from between his lips, looking far too attractive for the situation. 

When he was done, he held out the hex to Ty. "How do you want to do this? With Becky, it was part of the honeymoon." Ty understood what he was saying. They bonded during sex. He knew it was common but that hadn't been his experience with Eli. Thank god. That would have been awkward as hell. But, it did have some appeal. 

The location obviously took that option off the table but Ty wasn't going to deny himself at least a small amount of pleasure from this whole situation. He stepped forward and placed Zane's hand with the hex on the door. Then he put one of his own hands over it and drew Zane in with the other. "Bond with me, Zane? Be my witch and use my magic." Ty didn't let Zane replied, just kissed him with all the emotion he had bubbling up inside. 

Zane wrapped his free arm around Ty and held him close and they lost each other in the kiss. It felt right. Almost too right, like nothing, Ty had ever experienced and he only kissed Zane harder when that thought hit him. He didn't want to give this up. He didn't want to give this man up. Not without a fight. When they were out of here, he would ask if Zane wanted to remain his witch forever. Maybe even tell him that Ty was _his_ familiar. 

It would be a risk, but if this kiss was any indication, Ty thought it would be worth it. 

So caught up in the kiss, Ty almost didn't hear the door unlock as his magic flowed from him to Zane and into the hex. The heavy clang of the metal caught his attention and he pulled away from Zane reluctantly, not wanting to be caught in the intimate embrace by the very men they wanted to kill. He patted Zane on the cheek for lack of anything better to do with his hands and grinned. "Save that thought for later, Hoss. Let's go kill some people."

They probably should be attempting to bring them in and Ty would do his best to make sure one or two survived to stand trial for the death and destruction they caused. But Ty wasn't forgiving by nature, not when someone wronged someone he lov... cared about. They kidnapped Zane. They tried to kill him. They forfeited their chances. Ty wasn't forgiving now. Now it was revenge.

_We're going to make those bastards pay and then we are getting out of here_ , he promised Zane who smiled and nodded grimly. _Do you have any weapons on you?_ The kidnappers had taken Ty's gun and he doubted they'd left anything on Zane either.

_No. I wish I had a knife or something._ Zane's wistfulness for a weapon made Ty fall a little more for him at that moment. God, there was something hot about a man who could handle himself in a fight. And having been on the receiving end of a couple of Zane's punches, Ty knew just how effective Zane could be even unarmed. 

Ty offered him a quick smile. _Then we will need to find you one, won't we?_

Zane grinned back at him and for a moment, Ty would have believed he was the familiar, all hard lines and sharp teeth. Ty wanted to take him to bed and never let him leave. But instead, he gave Zane a quick wink and shifted feeling his bones and muscles fall into the comfortable arrangement. He stretched, loosening up tight muscles that don't get worked as a human and heard Zane's sharp intake of breath. There wasn't anyone else around so Ty had to assume that was for him, though Zane kept a tight lock on his thoughts so Ty didn't know for sure. 

_Follow me_. His eyes were much better suited to this situation as a cougar and he led the way down the hall, ears perked and ready for any sign of trouble up ahead. Or even a sign of life. Of which, he found none. They were either deep underground and well sheltered from the rest of the world or the kidnapper had left them there to die without even a single guard to make sure they didn't escape. 

Oh well, his oversight was a boon to Ty and Zane, one Ty fully intended to take advantage of.

After a while of walking down muddy halls, filled with musty, unpleasantly earthy scents that weren't easily found in New York City, not without going into the basements of the oldest of buildings, ones that still led to the tunnels under the...

_Son of a bitch! We're in the old tunnels. Look for stairs._ Ty didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner. The dark, the smell, the complete lack of life. It made sense now that he put it all together.

_How?! I can hardly see you, let alone stairs!_

Ty would have rolled his eyes if he could while in this form. _Then close your damn eyes and use mine instead._ The unusual feeling of someone looking over your shoulder came over Ty and he knew Zane had done what he was told. Shocking, really, considering how argumentative his witch was usually. _Now, try to keep up. There should be stairs around here somewhere_.

After five more minutes of walking down random twists and turns, Ty finally found what they were looking for. They climbed the stairs quickly - Ty far quieter then Zane was - and reached the door at the top. It was also locked and Zane drew a hex on it before pausing. _Ty, can I use your magic?_

It took Ty's breath away for a second, that Zane would even ask such a thing. It was so...considerate. Most witches would have considered Ty's magic their own from the moment they bonded. Eli never did and he seemed Zane wouldn't either. Just one more reason that Ty knew he had to tell the man what he was thinking, that he wanted to stay bonded even after this was over. If Zane wanted that too. 

But they had something else to worry about first. _Yes, do it_.

The tug on his magic was as familiar as it was novel and Ty stood and watched the hex light up with his magic and the lock open after only a few seconds. Zane reached for the door and Ty tensed, ready to pounce the moment was over. _Ready?_

Ty gave him a toothy smile and nod, then turned his attention back to the door. On the other side was any number of cartel members, all of whom would want to kill them. 

Well, they were welcome to try. Ty had something and someone to fight for now, and he was far deadlier than anyone else that could possibly be in this room. He purred, low and deep, the thrill of the hunt coming over him as Zane opened the door to a fight that the cartel had no idea was coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I expect this will be over before we reach Ch 30 but I'm not confident enough to give an official chapter count just yet. We are in the endgame, though, so I hope you enjoy!


	21. Zane

Ignoring the tightness in his chest at the knowledge of the completed bond, Zane stood to the side as he opened the door. Without a weapon, he knew he wasn't going to be as effective as he normally would. But Ty didn't need a weapon. Ty _was_ the weapon and probably one they weren't counting on. If they were, they would have put a hex on him to stop him from changing shapes. Or just killed him on the spot The cartel and their hatred of all things magic was legendary and only because he could hide his witch potential had Zane survived as long as he had. 

If they didn't know now, then they were about to find out.

The moment the door was open, Ty burst through, a deep and guttural snarl emanating from him as he took down the two cartel members just inside the door. Even knowing it was Ty, even having intimate knowledge of his body and being able to hear some of what he thought, Zane still shivered in response to Ty's growl. There was a reason people believed dangerous familiars should have to be locked up and Zane was looking right at him.

But even as he tore the men apart, Zane knew Ty was in complete control. He wasn't some mindless animal and if faced with an innocent, Zane knew deep down that Ty would be as docile as a house cat.

One of the dead men still had a gun in hand and Zane grabbed it with a grin. A man raised a gun at Ty and Zane didn't even think, firing off three shots, taking him out as well as two others nearby. They weren't going to get Ty, not on his watch. Zane loved him too much to let that happen. 

Wait. What?

**Loved?**

No, they'd only known each other a couple of days. There was no way he could love the man. 

But there was a connection there, one Zane had never experienced with anyone, even Becky. And while Zane didn't want to analyze that too much, he also couldn't ignore it anymore. 

He wanted Ty and he wanted this bond. Even if it had been formed out of necessity, Zane knew he had wanted this. He wanted this with Ty. 

Ty might not want him but Zane would ask, just in case. 

Of course, they had to finish this first. 

Zane pointed out the gun around the room but Ty was the only one still standing. The ones that were still alive were bleeding profusely but Zane doubted they would die. "Well, huh. I guess you didn't really need me, did you?"

_On the contrary, I am glad you are here. I think I'll always need you._

Zane's eyes widened at Ty's admission. It had to be the exhilaration of the battle that made Ty say something like that. No way a man like him would want a broken man like Zane. They’d have to talk about it later, about how Ty can’t say such things to him. It was cruel and while Zane didn’t think Ty did it on purpose, it still hurt. 

_Call into MWP and give them the address. Get someone in here to help us._

Huffing, Zane rolled his eyes. “I still don’t know where we are, Ty. And in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t work for the MWP. Why would they come if I called them?” He didn’t bother speaking through the bond. The only people still alive in the room were in no position to be listening in on the conversation. And if they were, they still couldn’t do anything about it with an angry wildcat standing over them. 

_You’re a smart man, Garrett. Figure it out._

Zane didn’t know how to solve either problem. _You going to be okay if I go find the address?_

Ty huffed this time and Zane laughed. _I’m the one with the claws and teeth. Don’t get dead and I’ll be here when you get back._

Having no choice but to believe him, Zane slipped out of the room, looking for a phone as well as any clue as to where they were. A cell phone lay on a table just outside the door and Zane picked it up, He would still need to find MWP’s phone number and figure out where they were but one battle down. 

He hoped MWP would be able to trace the phone he was on. A quick internet search gave him the MWP dispatch phone number. As the phone rang, Zane debated what to say. A harried sounding woman answered and Zane launched into his speech. “I’m here with an MWP agent, Ty Grady. We have several dead cartel members and a few alive as well. We were kidnapped and he is demanding backup.”

“Then why isn’t Agent Grady calling us.”

“Because he is currently standing over the live cartel members showing them his teeth. Can I talk to someone who can actually get us some help.”

“Standby.”

Zane swore under his breath. They didn't have time to "standby". As he stood there, one of those assholes could be getting a jump on Ty. Unlikely but there was that chance and Zane didn't want to take chances with Ty's life. 

"This is McCoy," a man answered. "Who are you?"

Again, they didn't have time for pleasantries so Zane skipped right to the point. "Someone needs to trace this phone and get to this location as soon as possible. Sooner than possible. I'm here with Ty Grady and he wanted me to call you and relay that message."

A soft sigh on the other end of the line and if Zane didn't know better (which, in reality, he didn't), he'd think this was fairly normal for Ty and this McCoy. "Alright, someone is tracing it and I'll dispatch backup immediately. _If_ you tell me who you are."

Telling him he was Zane Garrett wasn't going to help. This was probably Ty's boss and therefore knew that Ty had been sent out to get him for being belligerent in a bar. For all they knew, this was Zane getting back at the MWP for bothering him. Instead, he settled for an answer he hoped would get the best reaction. "I'm Ty's witch. Now get over here and help him."

Ty's witch. That sounded good. When he said Ty was his familiar, there was an ache in his heart like he had no right to claim such an amazing man. But having Ty's claim on him? that was something Zane could be proud of.

"Ty Grady doesn't have a witch."

God help him, was the MWP always this argumentative? Judging by Ty, it was probably a fairly safe assumption. "As of thirty minutes ago, he does."

He slipped the phone back into his pocket, leaving it connected so they could continue to trace it if necessary and made his way back into the room. As he got closer, he heard the screaming and ran the last few steps, only to stop short when he surveyed the scene. The same amount of dead men. The same amount of cougar. Same injured people. But one of the injured people was screaming like a banshee as Ty nommed on his leg. Even from this distance, Zane could see he wasn't causing any physical damage. 

Mental damage? Hell yes. 

"Why are you using him as a chew toy, doll?" Zane asked, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

Ty glanced up at him, large expressive eyes clearly Ty, no matter what type of face it was. _He started it. Tried to kick me. I'm teaching him a lesson._

"Oh, alright. Continue on then." The man currently acting as a chew toy screamed his displeasure and Zane laughed. "Next time, don't be an asshole and this won't happen." _McCoy is sending backup. He also knows we bonded._

_Oh, I will never hear the end of this. I'm assuming Mac has told the rest of the group as well._

Zane took a seat, keeping the gun in hand in case anyone tried anything. _Is it really that bad?_

He felt Ty's penetrating gaze as much as he saw it and Ty let out a soft chuff. _No, I don't think it is._


	22. Dan McCoy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now for something completely different (not really, just POV shift)

The drive to Staten Island was one of the longest McCoy could remember. Though, he had plenty to keep his mind busy. He didn't know why Ty Grady continued to surprise him. The familiar had worked at the MWP long enough that McCoy shouldn't find anything Ty did too shocking. 

And yet, Ty had managed to shake him to his very core.

Him taking down the New York branch of the cartel? Not a surprise at all. Dan had an inkling the moment he sent Ty to talk to the victim that it would send the familiar down a path of vengeance. He only hoped the bloodshed wasn't too bad. 

But Ty finding a witch and bonding? He'd never expected that in a hundred years. The higher-ups had been putting pressure on Dan to get Ty to bond with someone before they forced his hand. Whether it was a bond with whoever they chose or being out of a job, McCoy wasn't entirely sure but he'd been stalling on Ty’s behalf for months now. Then the man went and took the problem right out of his hands. 

Mac wondered who Ty had found and if they deserved him. As well as being his boss, McCoy often thought of Ty as a friend. An annoying younger brother, perhaps. And while they butted heads often and he was a headache and a half to try and keep under control, Dan was still protective of him. He hoped this witch who called in for help was someone who would treat Ty right. 

If not, they would be having words. 

As they pulled up to the address they'd tracked the call to, Mac pushed aside his sense of foreboding. He didn't know if it was his shock over Ty's sudden bonding or the fact that he was walking into the cartel headquarters in New York, or something else that bothered him but he had a terrible feeling that there was something off about this whole thing.

Though, he often felt that way when Ty went rogue and did whatever the hell he wanted. 

Armed officers went in first, McCoy and several others following behind. His presence wasn't exactly necessary but he had to see this for himself. Maybe it was all an elaborate hoax, but if it was, it was a good one. Someone would need to know Ty Grady well enough to say the one thing guaranteed to get Dan McCoy to leave his office and go into the field. 

Odds were that all of this was legitimate and Mac foresaw a lot of paperwork in his future. 

But first things first. 

Stepping into the room, he registered the smell before anything else. That much blood spilled in one area was hard to over and even though he wasn’t a familiar, McCoy could smell everything just fine. He had to guess that the familiars with their heightened senses were not enjoying it one bit. 

In the middle of it all, a large man sat on the floor, a cougar leaning up against him. He scratched absentmindedly behind the familiar's ears and even from the door, McCoy could hear Ty purring. This must be the witch he had heard absolutely nothing about. Ty closed his eyes, laying down to rest his head on the man's lap, probably ready to relax now that backup had arrived. 

Dan glared at the witch, wishing he at least knew a name so he could demand some answers. But Ty cracked one eye open and stared back at McCoy, lip curled to reveal sharp teeth and he thought better of just laying into the man. "You must be the one who called in. Dan McCoy, head of the Metropolitan Witch Police."

The witch moved to stand but Ty stretched himself out more across his lap, making it nearly impossible. "You have to let me get up eventually," the witch laughed and Ty growled which only made the man laugh harder. "Sorry, apparently he's being...difficult." When Ty growled again, the man shook his head. "Don't start with me. You know you are. I'm Zane. Zane Garrett." He held out his hand, which McCoy shook without thought. 

Ty had bonded with the man he'd been sent to interrogate? What had happened over the last few days? Dan was caught on the back foot and he didn't like it. "Garrett? Aren't you the one who started all this mess?"

That did get Ty to move and he stood up, growling at Dan in a way he had never done before. Mac was surprised and a little impressed. He knew about Ty's loyalty and how deep it ran with the people he cared about. He hadn't expected him to feel so strongly about a witch after only an hour or two of bonding and a few days of knowing each other. 

"Sorry, I'd prefer not to end up like these poor bastards." He gestured to the bits that were still laying on the ground. "I just have some questions. If you could shift, we can go find someplace to talk."

Zane cocked his head, listening to something then rolled his eyes. "He said only if you promise there will be Dr. Pepper and Cheetos. He's tired and hungry and won't be held responsible for whoever he might eat in the process." He fell silent again and then laughed. "Okay, who you will chew on. Sorry, I was paraphrasing. Yes, I know what paraphrasing means! Do you?"

McCoy turned on his heel and headed for the door. Ty was being unreasonable as usual and he would come around when he felt like it. There was no point in pushing him. It would only make him dig in his heels more. 

Unsurprisingly, he heard Garrett stand up and both of them pad after him only a moment later. They walked to a quieter, empty room to let the other agents do their work and give them some privacy. "So, who is going to explain to me what is going on."

The two men (man and cougar, anyway) stared at one another for a moment, and then Ty shifted, standing there next to Zane like there was nowhere else he would rather be. "We were locked in a room. They'd taken our phones and any hexes we had on them. Unless we felt like waiting for them to come back and kill us, a bond seemed to be the only option. Zane drew the hex and we activated it and then killed all those fuckers who thought they could get the jump on us."

"Technically they did get the jump on us," Zane pointed out, drawing a glare from his familiar. 

"They used chloroform. That isn't fair and you know it."

"Just wanting to be thorough." 

Ty shook his head, clearly exasperated. "Anyway. We bonded. We got out. We killed them. Well, most of them. Left a few to interrogate." His smile told Dan that he wanted to do far more than interrogate him and he made a mental note to keep Ty Grady away from any of the prisoners. 

The story made sense though. Ty would do whatever it took to survive, even if it meant making a less than ideal bond. Looking at them, it would seem they were both happy about the arrangement but McCoy knew better than to judge Ty's moods about anything. "Alright, that makes sense. If need be, I'm sure Johns would be happy to break the bond for you."

Both looked stricken and Mac knew there was more going on here than they were letting on. 

"Um, yes, thank you," Zane said quietly. "We need to talk about some things first."

"Of course. I expect you both at the station first thing Monday morning. We can determine what to do next then. Until then, go home and get some rest. Figure all this out. Have a plan when I see you. Someone will drive you home. Are you going to the dormitory or your house, Ty?"

"House."

Dan nodded and turned to leave, not wanting to be a part of whatever conversation those two were about to have. If Zane was half as hard-headed as Ty, it was going to be uncomfortable as hell and he was once again grateful for his own familiar and their easy relationship. 

He'd deal with Ty and Zane when he saw them Monday. Until then, they were on their own as far as this was concerned and Dan wished them well. 

But he didn't envy them one bit.


	23. Ty

Neither man said anything on the way back to Ty's house, driven by some agent Ty had seen before but never talked to. The woman didn't have anything to say to either of them which was just as well. Ty wasn't feeling particularly talkative. His mind raced with everything that happened over the last few days. Hard to believe it was only a few days ago he was laying in the yard at the MWP, getting sun and thinking that the most exciting thing to happen to him lately was when Perrimore took the last burger and he had to stop Lassiter from biting his witch's shin. 

Now, Ty had helped take down one branch of the Vega cartel, found a man he knew he was already in love with, and bonded with him despite saying that he would never have another witch as long as he lived. But, that was said in grief, long before he knew there was a man like Zane Garrett in the world. 

Zane wasn't perfect. Far from it. Ty still sort of hated him, even as he loved him. He was a broken man who made more bad decisions than good and Ty was pretty sure Zane already considered Ty one of those bad decisions. 

He occasionally thought maybe Zane like him but he honestly didn't know. And Ty, for all his courage in battle and on the job, was terrified to find out the truth. Because if Zane didn't want him, it would break his heart. 

Ty stared out the window, watching the city go by, wondering what Zane was thinking right now. He couldn't get any kind of read on him, Zane hadn't let even a snippet of thought through their bond. Ty could still feel him there, a warm, comforting feeling in his chest - but otherwise, Zane might as well have been a million miles away for all Ty could tell. 

He gasped when a hand rested on top of his and he turned to look at Zane in surprise. Zane hadn't looked away from the window he was so studiously observing but the corner of his mouth turned up just a little. 

Ty turned his hand over in Zane's and laced their fingers together. Whatever happened next, he would always have this. 

Maybe Zane was just comforting him, but he was beginning to think that maybe this wasn't the end he originally believed. 

The agent dropped them off at the door to his brownstone and they got out, never letting go of the other's hand. Ty drew strength from him and hoped Zane was doing the same. Whatever happened when they went through that door would be uncomfortable for both of them but Ty knew what he had to do. 

If he had to jump off into the unknown and hope Zane met him halfway, that was what he would do. 

When the door was closed, they both stood there, neither venturing further into the house. They stared at one another, communicating not in words or even through their bond. Something deeper than even the force that bound their lives together. They moved as one, meeting in the middle to share a kiss, desperate and needy, hands gripping one another tight as they came to the realization of what they could have lost that day.

Zane's hands moved to Ty's shirt, shaking as they tried to open the first button. That caught Ty's attention and he reached up and took Zane's hands in his own, drawing them down and stepping back. "I think we need to talk first."

He hated those words when they were said to him but Ty knew it was necessary and despite the stark terror that shot across Zane's face, Zane knew it was necessary too. They couldn't go forward with anything until they cleared up what this was and what they both wanted. 

In the living room, they both sat on the couch, something Ty was grateful for. He took comfort in Zane's presence, not just because Zane was his witch but because he was just _Zane_. Ty never felt that from another person and it only made him more determined to say his piece. 

"Zane," Ty started, looking him in the eye. "I have a problem."

That got Zane's attention and he reached out to take Ty's hand, squeezing it lightly. "What is it? What can I do?"

"I'm not sure there is anything to be done." He couldn't force Zane to love him and he couldn't force Zane to want to continue to be his witch. It was up to Zane whether he wanted this too or not. But Ty could at least give him all the facts. 

He swallowed, looking down at their hands before looking back at Zane. "You're my witch."

With a chuckle, Zane nodded. "I know. I was there when we bonded." 

Ty shook his head. "No, I mean you are _my_ witch. The fated one, the one that every familiar dreams of finding."

Zane blinked, clearly shocked. Ty had never seen so many emotions flicker over a person's face that quickly. Ty should have told him earlier but he didn't think that was something Zane wanted to hear. Maybe he still didn't but Ty owed him the truth if nothing else. "Oh, and...how long have you known?"

"Since I saw you in the bar," Ty admitted. He had been so horrified that this man was the one fated to be his but now he couldn't be happier. Particularly if Zane wanted this too. "Didn't want to tell you then. And then was afraid to tell you after I wanted to. But now that we're bonded, you deserve to go into this with your eyes open. As Mac said, there's a guy at the station who can remove this if that is what you want."

Whatever Zane was expecting Ty to say, it wasn't that. He sat there, gaping like a fish out of water for a few long moments. Ty watched him try to work himself up to anger but then deflate again. It gave Ty hope that maybe this wasn't a loss after all.

Finally, Zane got himself together long enough to ask, "And if it is something I want? What would you say to that?" 

Ty didn't let himself hope that Zane actually wanted this. He was only trying to get all the data before making a decision. He was analytical like that. Ty had already seen it. "I thought I made it clear that I don't really want to give up the bond. I love you, Zane. I don't want to give this up without a fight but I also don't want you to feel pressured, so this is your decision and I will go with whatever you choose."

There. He said it. He couldn't take it back. And while he knew that Zane at least cared a little about him, Ty knew he wouldn't be hearing those words in return. Zane didn't love him. Ty was convenient and someone the witch could tolerate. That was all. 

So lost in his thoughts, Ty didn't hear Zane at first and had to shake his head and look at him in confusion. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"I said I would like to try. I don't know if I can say I love you, yet. But I think I could. And I think with enough time, I will. I have nothing in Miami to go back to. I have no real life here in New York. I don't want to go back to Texas and be the good son they've always wanted. Maybe..." Zane swallowed and tried again, "Maybe I could stay and try to build something here. With you."

Ty couldn't believe his ears. It didn't seem real but Zane's hand was still in his own, warm and solid and very much real so he stared at it for a moment. This was better than he could have hoped, more than he ever anticipated. He ran his fingers over Zane's wrist, relishing the way the witch shivered and his pulse picked up. _Do you mind that I love you?_ he asked silently, feeling that it might break his heart if he heard a positive response out loud.

_No. I'm honored and I will do my best to be worthy of it. I'll try and be the person you want me to be._

He was already shaking his head before Zane even finished his thought. "No, Zane. You are everything I need you to be. What we have now? This is us. We can build from here but I want to build it together. You don't have to prove yourself worthy because I already know that you are."

Zane didn't have anything more to say it seemed because he pulled Ty close and kissed him. The happiness they were both feeling resonated through the bond. Ty had never felt anything like it. 

"Bed?" Zane whispered against Ty's lips. 

He didn't need to ask twice. Ty was on his feet and heading for the bedroom within seconds, with Zane close behind. Their joyous laughter echoed off the walls of the brownstone as they made their way upstairs and Ty couldn't help but think this was the start of something very good. 


	24. Zane

Zane thought he might be able to fly if given the option. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that Ty would want this as much as he did but here they were and he didn't plan to take it for granted.

Ty loved him. 

_Loved_ him. 

Loved _him_.

It was a lot for him to wrap his head around and Zane was honored that somehow, one of the best (and most infuriating) men he'd ever met loved him. Zane didn't care what Ty said, he would do his best to be worthy of such an honor. Zane loved him in return, he was sure. But saying the words out loud had been too much for him right then. Ty seemed to understand, for which Zane was appreciative. He would get there eventually but he wasn't ready, not yet. 

That didn't mean he couldn't _show_ Ty how he felt. 

The two of them stumbled up the stairs, kissing and groping, tugging clothes off an leaving them where they fell. If anyone would walk in at that moment, there would be no doubt what the two of them were up to. And they would be able to follow the trail of clothes to find out exactly where they were doing...that. Zane briefly considered going back downstairs to put a hex lock on the door to prevent that from happening, but then Ty sucked on his pulse point and Zane lost all thought other than the need to get Ty under him. On top of him. In him. He didn't care. As long as he had Ty, that was all that mattered. 

The moment they were in the bedroom, Zane spun them around and dropped Ty on the bed, crawling on after him. He needed, wanted. His blood burned with it and the bond between them sang. He couldn't wait to have Ty and - at least for now - Ty had him. He hoped it would be forever even as the idea of forever terrified him. They'd both lost so much before that Zane knew neither one would take for granted just how much they wanted to be together. 

"Want you," Zane said against Ty's lips.

Ty wrapped a leg around his waist and pulled Zane closer. "You have me, Zane." The kiss started passionate - all tongue and teeth and need - but calmed to something softer but no less desperate. Zane could cry from the sheer emotion rushing through him. He knew without a doubt that some of what he was feeling was from Ty and just that shadow of Ty's emotion was enough to nearly bowl Zane over. Ty really felt like that for him. 

They stripped the last of their clothes and Zane laid himself out on top of Ty who slipped a hand between them to bring them both pleasure as they kissed. His hand wasn't tight enough for either to find completion, only a gentle teasing that was at complete odds with the face that Ty presented to the world. This soft and loving version of him was one that Zane hoped only he would see from now on. He wanted to keep this secret all to himself, not let the world know what joy he had found with the man in his arms.

They came together like that, hands gripping one another as if they couldn't get close enough. And when they were as close as it was possible for two people to be, Zane's thoughts centered on nothing but Ty. This was the life he wanted, this man and hope. Hope for a better future, hope for something to live for, hope for someone to love. Ty gave Zane hope, something he thought he'd lost all those years ago on that unfortunate street corner in Miami.

Kissing and holding one another, they moved as one as if their bodies were as in sync as their minds and their hearts. 

Still not fully used to the bond, Zane let a few things slip through. Silent gasps of pleasure, echoing the ones said out loud. Thoughts on how lucky he was to have found a man like Ty. Thoughts on just how attractive Zane found his lover, his partner, his witch. Thoughts on what he wanted to do to Ty next time, next year, the rest of their lives. 

And then the words he'd been holding close, slipped through his mind like water over rock.

 _I love you_.

Panic gripped his heart but Ty just smiled and pulled him in for another kiss. His lack of comment helped Zane relax enough to lose himself in Ty and soon enough, they both found release in each other's arms. 

Panting and exhausted, Zane lay next to Ty, reaching out blindly to take his hand. He squeezed Ty's fingers gently as he started up at the ceiling. He had told Ty he loved him. And Ty, bless him, hadn't said a word. He understood Zane better than anyone ever had.

But at the same time, he deserved better than to no hear it directly from Zane's mouth. "I do, you know?" he asked, hoping Ty would catch on soon enough. 

"Yeah, I know." Ty turned his head on the pillow to look at Zane and Zane did the same, meeting his warm eyes with a soft smile. 

That easy acceptance helped Zane keep going. "I just...I can't say it out loud yet. But I never want you to doubt it. I just need a little more time to..." To do what? Zane didn't wasn't sure he actually knew, or if he could put it into words. 

"To crunch the numbers," Ty told him with a grin and Zane realized that in the short few days they'd known each other, Ty knew more about him than any other person in the world. Even things Zane hadn't told him, Ty had figured out for himself. 

No wonder Zane had fallen head over heels in love with him. 

He leaned over, pressing a chaste kiss to Ty's lips. "Thank you for understanding."

"I love you, Zane. And I will love you for as long as it takes, and then even longer than that. You don't need to thank me for that, I promise."

Zane had never felt something like this before, not even with Becky. They'd been compatible, friends and he had loved her so much. But the bond they had was strong like this after being together for years, not hours. There really was something to be said about finding your familiar, your witch. He'd thought it was just fairy tales before Ty and now he would swear his life on it. 

Wrapping his arms around Zane, Ty pulled him closer and nuzzled his head under Zane's cheek. "Now, stop thinking so much and go to sleep. We have all weekend for... _this_." Even though he couldn't see it, Zane could feel Ty's grin through their bond and against his cheek. And I won't give you _this_ if you don't shut up and sleep. Some of us like to get eight hours, thank you very much.

"Whatever you say, doll," Zane drawled, fighting back a grin. And as difficult as he found it to sleep only a week ago, Zane marveled at how easily he drifted off when he had Ty there beside him. 

He hoped that for the rest of his life, sleep would come as easily as it did that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter to go! *kermit flail*


	25. Ty

"Garrett! Get your ass moving or I'm leaving without you. If I don't get to shoot or bite someone today, I'll do that to you when we get home." Ty was pacing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting impatiently for his lover and partner who was taking his sweet time getting ready. They had places to be and Zane didn't see to understand that. 

Zane's head appeared at the top of the stairs, grinning down at him and Ty was briefly struck dumb by how beautiful he was. How did he get this lucky? Ty still wasn't sure. "You promise?" Zane asked with a wink before disappearing back into their bedroom and it took Ty a moment to remember what he'd said that Zane was responding to. 

"Pervert!" he yelled back, though his anger was tempered by a hearty laugh. Oh, he'd be biting Zane that night, in a way that would be satisfying to them both. Today, however, he wanted to take out some of this nervous energy on someone who deserved it.

The last six months had been some of the best ones of his life. Ty thought being a member of Sidewinder and being Eli's familiar had been the best thing that could ever happen to him. And then he met Zane Garrett and everything Ty ever knew he wanted or needed went out the window. Now he was in love, living with the man who had turned his world upside down, and not even all that annoyed about how late they were going to be. 

Okay, he was still a _little_ annoyed. Old habits died hard, after all. 

"Garr- _rett!_ " he called once more and finally he heard Zane's heavy footsteps on the stairs. A moment later, Zane had wrapped his arms around Ty's waist and was kissing him soundly. Ty held tight to him, losing himself in the kiss for a few seconds before stepping back and slapping Zane upside the head. "Stop trying to distract me. I'm mad at you!"

"Are you really?" Zane asked, puppy dog eyes on display as if that could sway Ty. He'd been around Kelly Abbott for years. If that man's big sad eyes whenever he didn't get his way couldn't convince Ty, Zane didn't have a chance. 

Now, if Zane went to his knees, Ty might be more tempted to forgive him. 

He didn't say that out loud, though, just turned on his heels and headed for the door, slipping his MWP badge around his neck like he always did before leaving for work. He checked that he had his gun and keys and glanced back at Zane to see him do the same. The MWP badge shone on his belt, much newer than Ty's, and with a slightly different style indicating that he was a witch, not a familiar. The day Mac handed Zane that badge and welcomed him to the force was one of Ty's best memories. 

Who would have thought, when he got that assignment to that dingy bar all those months ago, that the drunken asshole he was there to interrogate would end up being the love of his life? If someone had told Ty that, he would have laughed his ass off. 

But here he was, half a year later, and he couldn't imagine a day without Zane in his life. They had a rocky start to the relationship but once he saw beyond Zane's problems and Zane saw beyond his badge, they realized that there wasn't another person in the world out there who was better suited to them. 

It helped that the sex was amazing, also. 

"Where are we going today?" Ty asked as they climbed into his mustang. It had been a gift from Zane's father when Zane took him to Texas to introduce him to the family. It had been as rocky a start as it was with Ty and Zane but Zane's mother was slowly warming to him and Zane's dad and sister were wonderful. 

Ty's parents hugged Zane the moment they walked into the farmhouse in Bluewood and practically asked why he never called. He was their son just like Ty and Deuce were and Zane's embarrassed yet happy blush when they greeted him was something Ty would always treasure.

Zane replied, pulling Ty from his memories, "I'll tell you where to turn, you just drive." Because that wasn't cryptic or anything. Ty glared at him but started the car anyway. He trusted Zane and if Zane wanted to play this game, there was probably a reason for it, even if it made no damn sense to anyone else. 

_If this is some kind of surprise party, just know that I will shoot first and ask questions later,_ Ty growled through their bond. He couldn't imagine any reason for there being a surprise party but for all he knew, he missed some important anniversary. Though, Zane would just tell him if that was the case. He wouldn't play games. 

Laughing, Zane just grinned at him briefly before turning his attention to the road, only speaking to give Ty directions. After a while, Ty got a feeling he knew where they were going and he shot an incredulous look at Zane. "We are working, right?" 

"Yes," said Zane with a nod, "this is where Mac is sending us. Some familiar lost his witch a few months back and is about to take it out on a bar full of people and perhaps a whole city block."

"And you didn't think that was important for me to know?" Ty asked incredulously, flipping on the flashy blue lights he'd installed for just this situation and stepping on the gas. "We are going where I think we are going, right?" Zane only nodded so Ty floored it, enjoying the way everyone moved to let them through. He'd never really been tempted to use the blue lights outside of work. Well, mostly. 

He skidded the car to a halt in front of the familiar building and looked up at it, a feeling of bittersweet happiness settling deep in his chest. So much had happened since he first set foot in this bar. Strange to be back here now with Zane by his side and not the one Ty was going to see. Ty continued to stare, long enough that Zane apparently got worried about him and leaned over to kiss him. "Relax, doll. No one is going to shoot at us today."

"You don't know that! We've been shot at on our weekends off!" It seemed that work followed them wherever they went. Thankfully, they were one of the best pairs at the MWP and had yet to encounter a problem they couldn't manage. 

Zane laughed at him, a fond sound, not at all mocking like some people might have. "If I'm wrong, I'll buy you ice cream after this."

"Make it a burger and you're on."

"Deal."

They got out of the car and Ty locked it before handing the keys to Zane to pocket until the job was done. Hard to hold keys when you have no pockets and are running on four paws. "Ready?" he asked, not even waiting for Zane's response before shifting. The world became sharper as his eyesight adjusted and he looked up at Zane, waiting for his partner to be ready. 

"Okay, Meow Mix. Let's go meet this familiar, finish work, and go back home for the day." There was a promise in his voice and Ty chuffed happily at him. That plan suited him just fine. 

Side by side, they walked into the bar and saw the angry young man at the bar. He was even at the same barstool Zane had been. He was ranting and raving, but probably weighed half what Zane did and Ty would bet his life that he was something small and unthreatening when he shifted. If he wasn't, he would have done that already. For this one, Ty knew he was there as backup. He sat by the door and stared at the young man while Zane approached. "Are you Morrison?" Zane asked, echoing the question Ty had asked him all those months ago. 

"Yeah. Who's asking?"

"My name's Agent Garrett with the MWP. That's my partner Grady. We just want to talk to you, okay?"

Ty settled in and watched Zane work. He was born for this. Large and imposing and yet people trusted him. It didn't take long before Morrison was sobbing about his witch who'd been killed a few months back. Sure the witch had been involved with some things Morrison didn't approve of but getting killed? Morrison wanted him alive so he could kill him again.

Zane patted the man on the back, offering some people he could call who could help. "Trust me, losing yourself in a bottle and being angry at the world isn't going to bring him back. All you can do is remember the good things and try to move forward. There may be another witch out there for you. You just never know."

Zane met Ty's eyes and they shared a moment. _I love you,_ Zane told him and Ty curled his lips back in the best approximation of a smile he could make in this form. 

_Love you too_. 

It was amazing how things worked out. Ty never thought there would be another for him. Neither did Zane. And yet, here they were. 

Ty wouldn't have had it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are at the end. Thanks for reading through!

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on [tumblr](http://astudyinfic.tumblr.com) or [twitter](http://twitter.com/astudyinfic)
> 
> Also, we made a [Cut & Run discord channel](https://discord.gg/KFfErkb) if anyone is interested in joining and yelling at us about the books we all love.


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